Dawn's Magical Mishaps
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: Sequel to "Willow's Child". Dawn's constant screw ups with spells while trying to learn magic result in a number of crazy adventures for her fellow Scoobies. But Dawn is not the only one to learn from these mistakes, and ends up bringing the Scoobs closer
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: Takes place about three months after "Willow's Child". This story will have a bit more focus on the other characters, but don't worry, there's still plenty of fluffy Sophie cuteness!

* * *

"Damn it, Dawn!" Buffy yelled in annoyance, throwing down her axe after she had hacked the final demon to pieces. "I told you to just wait for Willow or Tara to do the spell!" The youngest Summers had been learning magic to try and make herself more useful to her fellow Scoobies, but, to put it bluntly, she sucked. Her latest mishap had involved a locater spell having the opposite effect and allowing the demons they'd been hunting to locate _them._

"Yeah, Dawnie" said Willow as she and Faith helped Tara, who'd been thrown into a door during the battle, to her feet. "You really should have waited for us."

"Sorry" said Dawn, "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah, go easy on her, it's her first try" said Connor. Angel had sent him to stay with Buffy a few weeks ago, an arrangement that suited both father and son, as Angel knew his son was safe from the continuing threat of Wolfram & Heart's assassins, while Connor could continue fighting in the frontline of the battle against evil.

"But she made demons attack the house!" Buffy yelled. "What if Sophie was awake? Do you have any idea how scared she would have been?"

"Speaking of Sophie" said Tara, rubbing her aching back, "I should go check on her, then I think I'll go to bed." She turned to Willow, planting a small kiss on her lips. "Night, baby."

"Goodnight, shouldn't be too far behind you" Willow called after her. Then, Buffy was about to unleash another verbal assault on Dawn and Connor when Faith stepped in, trying to calm her girlfriend down.

"Easy there B, I think it's about time we hit the sack too. We'll talk about this in the morning, there's nothin' we can really do about it tonight anyway."

"I guess you're right" Buffy sighed, before turning back to Dawn, and gesturing at the piles of dismembered demons. "But you'll have to clean this up, and since you and Connor are acting so buddy-buddy, he's going to help you." The two slayers headed upstairs, hand in hand, while Dawn and Connor groaned at the size of the mess.

"I'll help you" Willow sighed.

"Really? Why?" Dawn asked, a little surprised.

"Well, I'm not saying I agree with what you did, Dawnie" said Willow, "But it's not like I've never screwed up with magic before, because as you know, I have, majorly. It'd be a little hypocritical for me to take the moral highground on this one."

About two hours later, the mess had been cleaned up, so Willow headed up to bed. Peeking into her bedroom to find Tara absent, she frowned, before hearing some faint sobs coming from Sophie's room across the hall. She looked in to find Tara clutching Sophie tightly to her chest, the little girl's face stained with tears.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked, stepping further into the room. "Did she hear the demons?"

"No," Tara began, "I was having a nightmare, and..."

"Mama Tara's d-daddy was h-hurting her!" Sophie sobbed.

"Oh" said Willow settling down beside them, and laying her head on Tara's shoulder.

"Sometimes I wish she didn't do this sharing dreams thing" said Tara. "I mean, her knowing about some of the things my dad did is bad enough... What if she sees something worse?"

"She already has" Willow whispered. Tara gave her a confused look, and Willow hesitated for just a moment before explaining. "Sophie saw you die once, Tara. I don't think it can get much worse than that."


	2. The Ring

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Dawn, Connor, I'm going to the mall with Willow and Sophie" Buffy called. "Xander's coming over to fix the wall later, Faith's tired and Tara's back's still sore, so don't bother them, and for the love of God, NO MORE SPELLS!"

"Okay, I get it, geez!" Dawn yelled back. Willow, carrying Sophie in her arms, raised an eyebrow at Buffy as they headed out the door.

"Why would Faith be tired?" she asked. "You two went to bed pretty early last night."

"Yeah, well, the thing is, I was pretty wound up after yelling at Dawn, and Faith was trying to help me relax, so we didn't actually er... sleep, for a while."

"Oh" said Willow, blushing slightly, "I getcha."

Dawn paced back and forth angrily, while Connor lounged on her bed. The pair were becoming quite close, and although Buffy wouldn't usually be happy about Dawn having him in her room, she really had more important things to worry about, and now that Dawn was twenty she couldn't really do much about it anyway.

"Why won't Buffy just let it go?" Dawn yelled. "I've only made one little mistake!"

"Actually," Connor cut in, "It's two if you count that time you blew up the pop tarts last week." Dawn glared at him.

"Not helping, Connor."

"Sorry" he shrugged.

"Anyway, I've found another spell to try, I'll just have to do it before Buffy and Willow get back. But, just in case everytyhing goes belly up again, I don't want to lose my only support, so," said Dawn, handing Connor a few ten dollar bills, "Just get out of here for a while, go see a movie or something."

"Why?" Connor asked curiously. "You know I'm completely supportive of your magic, but if it's something dangerous..."

"It's not dangerous, just a spell to let me talk to animals" Dawn explained. "But if I screw up, I could accidentally turn everyone _into _animals, so..."

"Got it, I'm outta here" said Connor, jumping up from the bed and heading for the door. "See ya, Dawn. Good luck."

Meanwhile, at the mall, Willow was looking at a jewellers while Buffy had stopped at a shoe store.

"Hey, baby" said Willow, lifting Sophie up to look at a case of rings. "I need a little help here. Which one do you think Mama Tara will like?"

"I don'ts know Mommy Willow" said Sophie. "They're all so prettyful..." At that moment, Buffy appraoched.

"Hey Wills, why are you looking at... oh" said Buffy eyes widening as realisation dawned. "Oh my God, you're going to.."

"Well, I know it may seem a little sudden but I think we were kinda heading that way before Tara died, and things have been really amazing since she came back, and we have Sophie now so... yeah" Willow smiled, finishing her babble, and Buffy let out a squeal, throwing her arms around her friend. "Hey, watch out for Sophie!"

"Sorry" said Buffy, changing her position so that she was no longer crushing the little girl in her slayer hug. "This is great, I'm so happy for you guys!"

"I haven't even asked her yet.."

"Oh come on, Will, it's not like she's gonna say no! You and Tara are made for each-other!" Said Buffy, taking Sophie from Willow. "Isn't this great, Sophie? Your Mommies are getting married!"

"What's married mean?" asked Sophie, confused.

"Getting married is when two people who love each-other very much promise that they'll be together forever" Willow explained.

"Oh" said Sophie, thinking about this for a moment before turning back to Buffy. "Is you and Auntie Faith gonna gets married too?"

"Umm... Let's talk about that in a couple of years, okay?"

Before long, the three shoppers headed home.

"It's a beautiful ring, Willow" said Buffy, admiring the gold band with a small sparkling diamond that her friend had chosen. Willow nodded, closing the ring box and tucking it back into the bag, then helping Sophie out of her booster seat and climbing out of the car.

"It's not much, but I kinda think Tara would want something simple." As the three opened the door, they were greeted by a wolf with deep brown eyes rubbing its head against Buffy's leg, a Chimpanzee wearing an eye-patch running around with a toolbox, and a blue-eyed dove fluttering onto Willow's shoulder.

"DAWN!"

* * *

AN: I put a lot of thought into deciding what animal everybody should be, Tara in particular, so I hope you agree with my decisions. This story will have several arcs, so the animal thing will last a few more chapters, before the new arc begins.


	3. ScoobyDoobyZoo

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Upstairs, Dawn was flipping through her spellbook, desperately searching for a way to turn her friends back into humans.

"DAWN, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" Buffy screamed. Dawn took a deep breath, closed her book, and headed downstairs to face the music.

"You are in so much trouble!" Buffy yelled when her sister came into view.

"I tried to change them back..." Dawn began, but her explanation fell on deaf ears.

"This has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done!" Faith growled in agreement, while Willow nodded and Tara puffed up her feathers. Xander had become distracted with grooming Sophie's hair, making the little girl giggle. "You better hope we can find a way to fix this..." Buffy paused, doing a quick head count. "Oh God, where's Connor? Do you know how majorly pissed off Angel's gonna be if anything happens to him?" Just as Buffy began running through the house, searching for any animal that might possibly be Connor, the boy in question walked through the door.

"Hey, I'm ba..oh" he trailed off, looking around at the wolf tailing Buffy, the dove on Willow's shoulder, and the chimp happily grooming Sophie's hair. He looked at Dawn. "Guess that spell didn't go so well, huh?"

A few hours later, Willow was researching how to reverse the spell, when she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a chimpanzee screeching, and Sophie clapping and giggling. The wicca ran into the lounge room and Tara, who had been perched on the table nearby, flew after her, landing on Sophie's head.

"Look, Mama Tara-bird, Uncle Xander's a funny monkey" Sophie giggled, pointing at Xander who was swinging from the curtains.

"No, bad Xander!" Willow yelled, grabbing the legs of her chimp-ified best friend. "Stop swinging from the curtains!" She attempted to pull him down, but the harder she pulled, the tighter Xander held on. Her daughter's continued giggles were not helping the matter. Tara, seeing that her soulmate was in trouble, formulated a plan. She flew over to Xander, then set about delivering sharp pecks to his fingers. Xander let go of the curtain, flailing his arms wildly, and sending Willow, who had been unprepared for the chimp's weight, crashing to the ground. Sophie rushed to her side.

"Mommy Willow! Is you okay?" she cried, Tara landing on her head as Connor, Dawn, Buffy, and the wolf-ified Faith sped into the room.

"What happened?" asked Buffy.

"Just Xander trying out his new monkey skills" said Willow, offering her arm for Tara to hop on. The dove cooed at her apologetically. "Oh, it wasn't your fault baby." Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"You can understand her?"

"Of course I can" said Willow, as if talking to a bird was the most natural thing in the world. "It's Tara."

That night, when Buffy was heading out on patrol, Faith tried to follow her.

"No" Buffy commanded as the wolf tried to follow her. "Stay, good Faith." She turned, but Faith followed her again. "I said no! What if somebody sees you?" The wolf bowed its head, staring at Buffy with wide, pleading eyes. "Do not use that look on me, Faith. I invented that look. Seriously, stop it, just..." Buffy sighed. "Fine, you can come. But if anyone asks, you're an over-sized Siberian husky."


	4. Slayer Wolf On Patrol

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

And so, Buffy and her temporarily (At least she hoped it was only temporarily) furry girlfriend set off for the nearest graveyard. Secretly, Buffy was glad she'd given in and let Faith come along. Ever since the Dark slayer's move to Cleveland had been made permanent, she had accompanied her girlfriend on patol every night, and it had now reached the point where Buffy just wouldn't have felt right going on her own anymore.

"Well, here we are, another night in the old graveyard, just like every other night" Buffy sighed, running a hand over Faith's fur. "Well, except for the part where you're all wolfy." They continued on, until Faith stopped, growling. "Hey what's up? Do you.. whoa!" Buffy sensed the vamp a second too late, but Faith quickly pounced, knocking it to the ground. After pulling herself together, Buffy staked it. "Phew, that was a close one. Hey, wait a second... Wow, you still have your slayer senses, don't you?" Faith had her head held high and her tail in the air, looking very pleased with herself. Buffy laughed, scratching her behind the ears. "That's really cool, Faith. And wolves have pretty awesome senses already, so you must have double super-senses. You're the world's first Slayer-wolf!" The two continued silently through the graveyard until another thought came to Buffy's mind. "You know who'd find this really interesting? Giles..."

The rest of the night's patrol passed without incident, except for the fact that Faith kept stopping to howl at the moon, which made the walk back to the house take about five times longer than usual. When they finally made it home, they found Willow asleep at the kitchen table, with about five different spell books spread out in front of her. Tara was asleep on her shoulder, her head tucked under her wing.

"Hey, Will" Buffy whispered, gently shaking her friend. "Willow, wake up." she shook a little harder. "Willow.."

"Ahh!" Willow squeaked, sitting bolt upright and frightening a certain sleeping dove off her shoulder. "Oh, Tara! Sorry baby" she said as the bird perched herself on the wicca's outstretched arm.

"I think you should go to bed Will" Buffy smiled.

"Yeah, but I haven't found anything about how to reverse Dawn's spell yet..."

"Don't worry about that, it can wait 'til morning."

"Okay" Willow yawned, heading upstairs with Tara still on her arm. "'Night Buffy, 'night Faith. Oh, Xander was going a little bit crazy, so I locked him in the spare room with a bunch of bananas and five rolls of toilet paper. He should be fine 'til tomorrow."

"Okay" Buffy laughed. "Goodnight, Will."

Buffy was not quite ready to go to bed yet, so she sat up watching TV for a few hours with Faith on the couch beside her. But eventually, she began to feel tired.

"You're a very good looking wolf, you know" said Buffy, starting to yawn. "Not that that's surprising, 'cause it is you and all. But I'd still like to get the human-Faith back as soon as possible. Although the slayer-wolf thing is pretty cool..." Buffy yawned again, four more words escaping from her lips before she drifted off completely. "I love you, Faith.." Now, if Buffy had been fully awake, she may not have said those words. You see, Buffy was worried that Faith would flip out and run away if the emotional side of their relationship progressed too fast, so she had made sure to try and take it slow. Just a few months ago, this would have been true. But Buffy had no way of knowing that if Faith had been able to speak that night, she would have been ready to say those words. But she couldn't speak, so all the Dark slayer-wolf could do was cover Buffy with the blanket Sophie sometimes used for naps, and lay her head in her girlfriend's lap before drifting off herself.


	5. Runaway Xander

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Mommy Willow, Mama Tara-bird, wake up, it's a 'mergency!" Sophie cried, jumping on her mother's bed

"Emergency?" asked Willow, stretching, while Tara, sleeping on the pillow beside her, woke and began cleaning her feathers. "What kind of emergency?"

"I wents to check on Uncle Xander, and he was gone!"

"Gone?!" Willow cried, leaping out of bed. "How could he be gone?!" Willow and Sophie sped to the room Xander had been locked in, with Tara fluttering after them. The toilet paper and bananas Willow had left for her friend to to entertain himself were completely destroyed, the window was open, and, as Sophie had observed, the one-eyed chimp was missing. "This is not good" said Willow, as Tara landed on her head, cooing in agreement. "This is not good at all."

The wicca's next move was to wake Dawn and Connor. Then, discovering Buffy wasn't in her room, she rushed downstairs to find her friend. She paused briefly to admire the sweetness of the position she found the sleeping slayer and her wolfy girlfriend in, before shaking Buffy awake.

"What is it Will?" asked Buffy sleepily.

"Xander ran away" Willow explained.

"Yeah, he climbeded out the window" said Sophie.

"Climbed out the window?!" Buffy cried, waking the still-sleeping Faith as she began to panic. "Willow, how could you not remember to close the window?!"

"I did close it!" Willow yelled, "But chimps have opposable thumbs like humans, so.."

"Easy there guys" Connor interrupted. "This isn't anybody's fault."

"Yeah" Dawn agreed. "Besides, Xander's fixed nearly every window in this place like a million times. He knows them better than anyone, monkey or no monkey."

"I suppose you're right" Buffy sighed. "We better go find him before he gets caught and taken to the zoo or something." Then an idea formed in the slayer's mind, and she looked at the wolf still lying across her lap. "Faith, do you think you can pick up Xander's scent?" Faith gave a small bark in answer, then jumped off Buffy's lap and set to work. The Dark slayer-wolf ran up to the spare room and sniffed around a little, before coming back downstairs and jumping up at the door. "Okay, she's got something" said Buffy, standing and heading for the door. "Everybody follow Faith."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea Buffy?" asked Willow, while Tara gave a worried twitter from her shoulder. "I mean, taking her out at night was risky enough, but this is broad daylight. There's no way we can pass Faith off as a normal dog."

"I Know!" said Dawn excitedly. "I found this spell so you can make something appear different to certain people. Maybe I can..."

"NO" said Buffy and Willow in unison.

"I do know the spell you're talking about though" said Willow. "I can do it, just give me a few minutes."

Before long, Faith was leading the scoobies through the streets to find Xander. They still saw her as the wolf that she was, but thanks to Willow's spell, all anyone passing by would see was a well-behaved grey Siberian huskey out for a walk with its owners. Oh, and a white dove sitting on a certain redhead's shoulder.

"So, let me get this straight" said Buffy, sounding a little confused. "You were worried about people seeing Faith as a wolf, but you're completely fine with everybody staring at a dove sitting on your shoulder."

"Uh-huh" Willow nodded. "There's not much anybody could do about a dove, but if someone saw wolf-Faith, they'd probably try to take her away from us."

"And we don't wants nobody to take Auntie Faith away" added Sophie, who was being piggy-backed by Connor. The Destroyer had originally felt quite awkward around the little girl, as he'd never really had any experience with children, but Sophie was an easy kid to bond with. He had, however, rejected the title of "Uncle" Connor, as he didn't feel ready for that. So, on Dawn's advice, Sophie had made him a paper badge declaring him an "Onnarery Scoobee" instead.

The group continued on for a while, until Faith paused for a second, then bolted.

"Faith, where are you going? Come back!" Buffy called after as she and the other Scoobs gave chase. The Slayer began to panic as Faith ran straight onto the road, and a car screeched to a stop to avoid hitting the wolf and her pursuers.

"Keep your damn dog on a leash!" the driver yelled.

"Sorry!" Buffy yelled back. Next the gang followed the Dark slayer-wolf into a park. She soon came to a stop, and the Scoobies stared in open-mouthed shock at the sight before them. A huge group of people stood watching Xander swinging from tree to tree, while a guy standing near an Animal control van trained a dart-gun on the chimp. Sophie's assesment of the situation mirrored everybody's feelings exactly.

"Uh-oh."


	6. The Trouble With Tranquilisers

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Shit!" said Connor, forgetting the presence of the three-year old on his back and earning a glare from Willow, who snatched her daughter away from him before turning back to the problem at hand.

"This is really bad" said the wicca, beginning to panic.

"Really, really bad!" added Sophie, sounding just as worried as her mother was about her uncle.

"What are we going to do, Buffy?" asked Dawn, joining the panic.

"I don't know" said Buffy. "There's too many people around to do anything slayer-y, and even if there wasn't, the Animal Control guy isn't some demon I can beat up. He's a normal human just doing his job." The Animal Control guy prepared to fire, and the Scoobies braced themselves for the shot, except for a certain dove and wolf, who both leapt into action. Faith ran and clamped her teeth around the barrel of the dart-gun, while Tara fluttered around the AC guy's head, distracting him.

"Will the owner of this dog please control it?" the guy yelled. "And get away from me, you stupid bird!" Sophie opened her mouth, beginning to protest that her Mama Tara was _not_ a stupid bird, but Willow shushed her.

"Not now, baby. We don't want to draw to much attention to ourselves, okay?"

"Okay" said Sophie. The Scoobies tried to make themselves appear to be innocent bystanders like everybody else, while silently urging Faith and Tara on. Suddenly, the gun went off. Because the Animal Control guy's aim was off due to Tara and Faith's interference, the tranquiliser dart ricocheted off the side of the Animal Control van, flew up in the air, then came down and hit Faith. She tottered around drowsily for a few seconds, before her legs gave out and she collapsed, asleep. Buffy ran to the wolf's side, giving up any notion of not drawing attention to herself, while Tara began twittering in alarm.

"Don't worry, your dog'll be fine in a few hours, lady" said the Animal Control guy as Buffy glared at him. "Besides, it's the damn thing's own stupid fault for getting in my way." He then re-trained his gun on Xander. The chimp had now made things a lot easier for him, as he had climbed down from the tree after he saw Faith had been hurt, his animal instincts being overridden by the need to know his friend was okay. The AC guy fired, hitting Xander's shoulder. "Got him!" He then threw a net over the tranquilised chimp and hauled him into the back of the van.

"Wait!" Sophie cried as the AC guy prepared to climb into the van and drive away, her eyes wide with panic. "Wheres are you taking him?"

"Don't worry, kid" said the AC guy as he got in the van. "he's going to a nice new home at the zoo."

After they had returned home, which took a little while due to the fact Buffy was carrying the unconscious Faith (She was awake now, but still pretty drowsy. Sophie was doting on her wolfy aunt, giving her plenty of food and water.), Willow downloaded a map of the zoo, going over all the entrances and restricted areas with Buffy.

"So, what are we going to do Buffy?"

"The same thing we do everynight, Willow" said Buffy, in an impersonation of a certain evil genius cartoon mouse. "Try to break into the zoo."


	7. Impending Doom

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Okay Will, let's go over the plan one more time" said Buffy.

"We go in the back way, because the fence is lower and there won't be as much security" Willow began. "I'll cast a spell so the cameras can't see us. Xander will most likely be in quarantine so they know he won't make the other chimp's sick, so that's where we have to get to" she continued, tapping the quarantine center on the map. "And we're taking Tara with us in case we need her to do something like steal some keys or.. Tara, stop that!" Willow giggled as the dove nibbled her ear affectionately.

"Or distract a security guard" Buffy finished for her. Connor and Dawn were staying home to babysit Sophie and the still-drowsy Faith, and to make sure no demons attacked the house. "So, ready, to go Will?"

"Yeah" said Willow, grabbing her supplies and heading into the lounge room to kiss Sophie goodbye. "Bye, sweetie. Be good for Connor and Auntie Dawn okay?"

"Okay" said Sophie, a little distracted with trying to make sure the wolf currently resting it's head in her lap drank something. The little girl was taking her self-appointed job of playing nurse to Faith very seriously. Buffy entered the room and smiled at the scene, once again feeling a twinge of guilt for some of the slightly cruel things she had said and thought about the little girl before she and the other scoobies had learned of her true connection to Willow. Looking back on it now, Buffy thought a large part of the problem may have been that she hadn't wanted to contradict her advice to Willow by bonding with little Sophie herself.

"Bye, Sophie" the slayer smiled, planting a small kiss on her niece's cheek and gently stroking her wolfy girlfriend's fur. "Take good care of your Auntie Faith for me, promise?"

"I promise" Sophie nodded.

"Thanks. Bye Dawn, bye Connor!" Buffy called. She began heading out the door after Willow, when Faith began whimpering and whining, even letting out a small howl, and displaying the pouty puppy dog look that she had used on her girlfriend the previous night.

"That's not going to work this time, Faith" said Buffy, placing her hands on her hips as she turned around. "You're sick, and besides, it'd be too risky for too many of us to go." Faith bowed her head sadly, and Buffy, sighing, moved to place a soft kiss on the wolf's wet nose. "I'll be back in a few hours, three, tops. Don't worry." Buffy blocked out Faith's continued whining as she headed for the door, frowning as Tara snatched the car-keys from her and delivered them into the palm of a giggling Willow. If Faith had been able to speak, she would have been able to tell Buffy that it she wasn't at all worried about her. Well, maybe a little worried, Faith was always a little bit worried about Buffy, but this was not what she worried about most. No, the thing that worried the Dark slayer-wolf most was that for some reason, she felt a sense of impending doom. Not apocalypse level doom, just a sense that something was not quite right.

"Are you okay Auntie Faith?" asked Sophie, worried. She placed a small hand on the wolf's forehead. "You feel cold. Do you wants a blankie? I'll go gets you a blankie." The little girl skipped happily upstairs, unaware of her wolf-ified aunt's growing sense of unease as she listened to Buffy's car pulling out of the driveway, or the danger lurking just outside the window..

"Is that her?" a green-skinned, blue-horned demon hissed as it peeked through the window at the little girl heading upstairs.

"Yeah, that's her" another demon growled. "The child created by our cousins, all brutally slaughtered by the Rosenberg witch." The demon's lip's curled into a cruel smile as it and a group of others watched Sophie return and place a blanket over a nervous looking Siberian huskey, before Dawn entered the room and handed the little girl a bowl of ice-cream. "But tonight we will have our revenge. Willow Rosenberg destroyed our family, so now we will destroy hers."


	8. You Don't Mess With The Slayer Wolf

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Which way to the quarantine center?" Buffy asked as she and Willow wandered through the zoo, which, as it turned out, rivalled the cemetery for nighttime spookiness.

"Um.." said Willow, inspecting the map with Tara sitting on her shoulder. "This way." They headed off in the direction Willow pointed, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling of the animals eyes on them. Eventually they came to a white building with a sign reading "Quarantine Center", and crept through the door labeled "Authorised personnel only." They then headed into a room full of what they assumed was animal medical supplies, before finding a room of caged animals.

"He must be somewhere in here" said Willow, looking around as Buffy began peeking into the cages. "Xander" Willow called quietly, "Xander, where are you buddy?" A frantic screeching began to emanate from one of the cages, and an eye-patch wearing chimp leapt against the bars of his cage, shaking them wildly.

"It's okay Xander, we're here to bust you out, don't panic." As Buffy began her efforts to wrench the cage open with her slayer strength, Willow suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, a feeling mirrored by Tara, who began to flutter her wings and chirp worriedly.

"I know baby, don't worry" Willow whispered, reaching a hand up to comfortingly stroke the panicking bird.

"Almost got it" said Buffy as the bars creaked.

"Good, could you try to hurry it up a little Buff? We really need to get home, something doesn't feel right." Buffy nodded. The panicked, stressed-out feelings that Faith was sending to her through the slayer bond were becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Back at the house, a very tense Dark slayer-wolf had her ears pricked, searching for any sign of danger. There was something there, outside, her slayer senses told her so, but with her current lack of the ability to speak, Faith had no way of warning her young companions, so all she could do was make sure she was ready to protect them from any attacks. Suddenly, the gang of demons waiting outside burst through the window, making Sophie scream, and Dawn frantically yell for Connor, who was on the phone giving Illyria instructions on how to cook microwave popcorn because Angel and Spike had left her alone while they went out demon hunting. Faith leapt into action, the adrenaline pumping through her veins cancelling out the effects of the tranquiliser, and her wolf-like maternal instincts making her even more protective of Sophie. She snarled as if to say "Touch the kid and I'll tear your throat out."

"Aww, the doggie wants to protect its master, how cute" one of the demons taunted. Faith, never being one to take an insult lying down, leapt at the demon, knocking it to the ground with a force it hadn't been expecting, as Connor dashed into the room, phone still in hand.

"Shit! I'll have to call you back Illyria, just don't touch the self destruct button. Why Spike thought it was a good idea to keep those appliances he stole from Wolfram & Hart, I'll never know." He hung up, leaping into the battle beside Faith. "Dawn, take Sophie upstairs!" Dawn obeyed, grabbing the terrified child and bolting upstairs. Just as Faith had fulfilled her silent promise of tearing the demon's throat out, two more grabbed her and threw her against the wall. The wolf winced slightly from the sudden pain, but jumped straight back into the fight, her jaws seizing the ankle of a demon that had attempted to follow Dawn and Sophie. It would take more than that to put the slayer-wolf down.

At the zoo, Buffy fell to the ground as the cage opened, clutching at a sudden pain in her side.

"Buffy!" Willow cried as she, Tara, and the newly freed Xander-chimp rushed to her side, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's Faith" she replied. "We have to get home, something's definitely going on."

"I know, Tara and I feel it too" said Willow, helping the slayer to her feet. "Something's seriously scaring Sophie."

Meanwhile, Dawn was flipping through spellbooks in her bedroom, where she and Sophie had taken refuge. Dawn took a moment to look up at the little girl, who was staring intently out the open window.

"Whatcha doing Soph?" Dawn asked.

"Waiting" said Sophie, not turning away from the window. "My mommies are coming home now."

"Oh, okay then" said Dawn, returning to her book. She flipped a few more pages before pausing, her face breaking into a large grin. "Oh my God, I think this is it, I finally found it!"

"Founded what?" asked Sophie.

"The spell that will turn everybody back into humans!" said Dawn, jumping off her bed excitedly. "I just need to get the ingredients and then I can.."

"No!" Sophie interrupted, rushing over and snatching the book from her youngest aunt. "Auntie Buffy said no more spells!"

"Well Auntie Buffy isn't here!" said Dawn, trying to extract the book from Sophie's surprisingly strong grip. "Besides, you want your Mama Tara to be a person again don't you?"

"Uh-huh, but Mommy Willow will fix it!"

"Well what if Mommy Willow doesn't fix it?!"

"Mommy Willow always fixes it!" A tug of war erupted over the book, with neither side having the upper hand. Then, Sophie fell backwards, and the book went flying out of her hands and through the open window.

"Now look what you've done!" Dawn yelled.

"I didn't do nothing, it's your faults you lefted the window open!" And so, the moment that would go down in history as Sophie's first argument continued.

"Oh god" said Buffy as she climbed out of the car, registering the shattered window and the battle raging inside before she and the chimp-ified Xander rushed towards the house. Willow began to follow when suddenly, she was hit in the head by a falling book. She picked it up, studying the page it had fallen open on, and smiling as Tara fluttered onto her shoulder.

"Don't worry baby, you'll be human again before you know it!"


	9. I Love You

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

As soon as Buffy ran inside, she was distracted by a frantic yelping.

"Hey, when you're in somebody else's house you have to play fair!" she yelled, landing a mean punch on a demon who had grabbed Faith by the tail.

"Slayer" the demon growled.

"Got it in one" said Buffy, throwing another punch.

Meanwhile, so as not to draw the attention of the demons and be prevented from performing the spell, Willow had levitated into the house through Dawn's open window. Once inside, she found Sophie and Dawn sitting with their backs to each other, pouting.

"Okay.." she said furrowing her eyebrows as Tara fluttered onto her shoulder, cooing in confusion. "What's up with my favourite junior Scoobies?"

"She started it!" They yelled in unison, pointing at eachother accusingly.

"Started what?" Willow asked.

"Auntie Dawn was gonna do a spell!" Sophie cried.

"I was only going to turn the others back into humans!" Dawn protested. "But thanks to Sophie, the spellbook went flying out the window! Now I have no idea where it is!"

"Is this it?" said Willow holding up the book she had found outside.

"Uh-huh" Dawn sighed. She'd never get to do the spell now.

"Good" said Willow, handing Dawn the book. "Could you go get these spell supplies for me Dawnie?"

"Sure" Dawn grumbled, mumbling "Stupid Sophie" under her breath as she left the room. She returned a few minutes later, still grumpy.

"Thanks" said Willow, taking the supplies and beginning to prepare the spell. "This should be done in a few minutes. Tara, get out of Sophie's lap or you'll squish her when you change back."

Back downstairs, Connor had taken advantage of the distraction caused by Buffy's arrival to grab an axe from the weapon storage cupboard, and was now happily hacking demons to pieces. Xander had stolen the fruit bowl, and had been taking a bite of each item before hurling it at the demons. However, this wasn't really helpful in any way, as Xander's unfortunate lack of depth perception meant his aim sucked, and he had more than once hit Buffy in the head with half-eaten apples. The other problem the gang faced was that Faith was becoming exhausted. When you're a wolf with a tranquilising drug in your system, there's only so far adrenaline can take you, even with slayer strength. Unfortunately, one of the demons had noticed the slayer-wolf's fatigue, and was now focusing all of its attention on her.

"You tired puppy?" It growled, kicking Faith in the side. "You wanna give up?" It kicked her again. "Poor, weak little puppy. Don't worry, this'll only hurt for a minute, it's just like going to sleep.." Buffy had seen what was going on, and was about to intervene, when suddenly, the slayer-wolf began to change. She grew upright, her paws became hands and feet, her tail shrank away to nothing, and dark hair flowed over shoulders. Soon, Faith's transformation back to human form was complete, and so was Xander's. Faith still felt the tranquiliser's effects, but no way in hell was that going to stop her from beating the living crap out of this guy.

"Weren't expecting that one, huh?" Said Faith, smirking at the demon's look of shock at having the Dark slayer standing before him. "Aww, is the poor little demon afraid of the big bad slayer? Don't worry, bein' beaten to a bloody pulp won't hurt too bad. Just like goin' to sleep, right?" Now, the odd's were tipped in the scoobies' favor, because as well as Faith and Xander, Willow and Dawn came down to help, leaving Sophie with the human-again Tara. Before long, all the demons were defeated. Buffy felt Faith slump against her shoulder, panicking when she saw her girlfriend's deathly-pale skin.

"Faith! Are you ok?"

"Feelin' a little woozy, B" she mumbled, desperately trying to resist the urge to throw up over Buffy's shoes.

"Me too" groaned Xander, unable to resist the urge to throw up over Connor's shoes. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Connor had had much worse things throw up on him, in much worse places, so he didn't really mind.

"It must be the tranquiliser" said Willow. "That stuff's really not meant for humans." Dawn helped Xander up to the spare room, and Buffy helped Faith up to their room, then helped her change into her pyjamas. She noticed that Faith had kept the injuries she had sustained while she was a wolf, as her side was bruised, and there was a small pin-prick on her shoulder where the dart had struck. Buffy tucked Faith into bed, then changed and crawled in beside her. Connor had promised to handle the night's patrol as soon as he changed his shoes.

"B" Faith mumbled a little later, "I have to tell you somethin'"

"What? asked Buffy. "Do you need to throw up, I can get you a bucket.."

"No, I think my gut's a little stronger than Xander's. It's just, I.. I love you, B. Just had to say it. I love you." After taking a few seconds for the words to sink in, Buffy smiled, snuggling closer to her girlfriend.

"I love you too."

* * *

AN: And so concludes the animal arc. The next arc involves Dawn accidentally shrinking Willow and Tara without realising it, and it's kind of an "Angel" crossover because Spike, Angel, and Illyria visit.


	10. The Big Question

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

An: This chapter contains some references to events in my other stories, "Tara And The Witch" and "Faith's Adventures In Babysitting", but you don't have to read them to understand this chapter, although one or two little jokes might seem funnier if you do.

* * *

"She'll be fine" said Tara as she blew on a spoonful of soup, feeling the waves of panic coming from her girlfriend. "You've done everything you can to make the house safe, and Buffy and Faith are with her. They won't let anything happen." When Faith had told her that the demons who attacked during the animal fiasco a week ago had been after Sophie, Willow had panicked and become extra clingy with her daughter, needing to know her exact whereabouts at all times, and before she and Tara had gone out tonight, she had put up magical wards around the house to stop any demons from getting in.

"I know, that's not why I'm worried.." Willow sighed.

"Then what is it?" Tara asked. "Come on, you know you can't hide anything from me." Willow took a deep breath. This was it, she had to do it now or she knew she'd lose her nerve.

"Well, I kinda need to ask you a really important question, and I'm worried because it's really big and I don't know what you're going to do and I'm babbling again, so I should just get on with it.." Tara gave her lover a puzzled look, until Willow pulled a small velvet box out of her handbag and kneeled down before her.

"Tara, will you marry me?" Tara's eyes began to water, and Willow frowned, trying to hide the ring away. "Don't cry baby, I knew it was too soon, just forget I said..." She was cut off when Tara pulled her into a passionate kiss. Some of the restaurant's other patrons gave the witches dirty looks, but they didn't notice, and even if they had, they wouldn't have cared. When they broke apart, Willow saw that Tara was smiling through her tears.

"So, I'm guessing that's a yes, huh?" she asked, smiling as she slipped the ring onto Tara's finger.

"Definitely a yes" Tara replied, leaning in for another kiss.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Faith was keeping an eye on Sophie while Buffy attempted to prepare an at least semi-edible meal without burning the house down. Faith had so far managed to avoid the type of marshmallow-exploding chaos that had ensued last time she babysat Sophie (None of said chaos had been the little girl's fault), however there was some debate over what movie they should watch.

"'Beauty & The Beast' again?!" the Dark slayer yelled. "But you just watched it this afternoon. What's so freakin' great about it anyway?"

"It reminds me of a story Mommy Willow telled me" said Sophie. "But we don'ts have to watch it if you don't wants to. We can do something else."

"Like what?" Faith asked. Sophie thought for a moment, then crawled into the Dark slayer's lap.

"You can tells me a story" Faith didn't like where this was going.

"Uh.. what kind of story?"

"How abouts the one where you broked out of the big house to help Uncle Angel?"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Little Red" said Faith. "You know how mad your Mommy Willow got last time I told you that one. The only reason I'm even allowed to look after you now is because Buffy's here too." Sophie pouted, gazing pleadingly at Faith with her wide blue eyes. "Oh, please don't give me that look Little Red, I get enough of that from your Auntie B. Seriously, it's why I let her cook." She sighed, her gaze drifting up to the ceiling. "This is payback for the wolf-pout thing with Buffy, isn't it?" She asked, sighing again. "Okay Little Red, I'll tell you the damn story."

"Yay!" Sophie cried, throwing her arms around her aunt.

"Yeah, yeah, Red'll probably murder me but at least you'll have this story to remember me by. Okay, once upon a time Auntie Faith's old watcher Wesley, who isn't known for makin' the greatest decisions, decided it was a good idea to take Uncle Angel's soul out. But then Uncle Angel's soul got stolen and bad Uncle Angel escaped from his cage, so Uncle Angel's friends needed Auntie Faith's help to catch him, but Auntie Faith was in the big house at the time..."

"What's the big house?" Sophie interrupted. "I was gonna ask you last time but I forgotted." Faith shifted uncomfortably, suddenly wishing that she had never told Sophie this story. Then again, the little girl was bound to have found out the truth sooner or later.

"The big house is jail, Little Red" Faith said quietly.

"But I thoughts jail was for bad people" said Sophie, confused. "You're not bad, Auntie Faith."

"I was once. I did some really bad things, and hurt people that I'd kill myself for hurtin' now. I.. I wasn't a very nice person, Little Red."

"Oh. Okay" said Sophie, snuggling closer to her aunt. Faith raised her eyebrows at the little girl.

"Uh.. doesn't any of that stuff bother you?"

"No, Mommy Willow was bad once too, but I'm not scared of her. 'Sides, you're my favourite auntie and I loves you." Faith smiled to herself. She was Sophie's favourite auntie. B was gonna be _sooo _jealous.


	11. No Possible Way

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

When a blissfully happy Willow and Tara arrived home, the first thing they noticed was a series of strange sounds and smells emanating from the kitchen. Investigating further, they discovered that the room in question had become a certified disaster area. Questionable stains were splattered in various places, sitting on the bench was a stir-fry ( at least they thought it was a stir-fry) that had obviously been set on fire, a roast chicken that was burnt on the outside and raw on the inside, and... they had absolutely no idea what the last dish was meant to be. There were good reasons why the Scoobies had made a pact to never let Buffy cook (Or drive, but that's another story) again, and the current state of the kitchen explained every one of them. The blonde slayer was currently on her hands and knees, cleaning up part of the mess.

"Buffy, what the hell?" Willow yelled when she managed to find words. "Nobody ate any of that did they? Faith knows she's not supposed to let you cook..."

"No-one ate it Will, I ordered a pizza" Buffy explained, looking up. "And don't blame Faith, she cannot be held accountable for anything she says or does under the influence of the pout."

"The pout?" asked Tara, confused.

"Yeah, it's like Buffy's version of my resolve face" Willow explained. At that moment, Buffy got to her feet, suddenly remembering what Willow had been planning to do tonight, and feeling quite awkward, as she didn't want to spoil anything if Willow had lost her nerve and hadn't asked, and she also didn't want to stick her foot in it in the seemingly unlikely event that Tara had said no.

"So, uh... How was dinner?" she asked. The witches looked at each other, smiling, then Tara raised her hand, and Buffy squealed upon seeing the ring.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful!" she cried, seizing Tara's hand.

"You saw it last week, Buffy!" Willow laughed.

"I know, but nobody was wearing it then! Oh my god, congratulations, I'm so happy for you guys! Oh, you have to go tell Dawn, she's upstairs with Connor, she'll be so excited!"

"We'll tell her" said Tara. "Is Sophie asleep?"

"She should be, Faith took her up to bed a while ago" said Buffy. "I should go check on her, come to think of it." So Buffy and the newly engaged wiccas headed upstairs. They stopped at Dawn's room to give her the news, recieving hugs and squeals of joy from the youngest Summers, along with a handshake and quiet congratulations from Connor. After Buffy had managed to extract Willow and Tara from Dawn's hug, they continued on to Sophie's room, peeking in on one of the sweetest scenes they had ever witnessed. Sweet wasn't a word Willow or Tara had ever thought they'd use in relation to anything Faith did, but the Dark slayer had proved them wrong. Both Faith and Sophie were asleep, Sophie with her head rested on Faith's shoulder and the slayer with her arms wrapped protectively around the little girl.

"Aww, that is so cute!" Said Buffy. "Don't wake them up, I have to get my camera!"

"Okay, I know this really is the cutest thing Faith's ever done, but if you ask me, Buffy seemed a little too excited about that.." said Willow, watching her friend run down the hall.

"Well" Tara shrugged, "love does that."

A few days later, after they had spread the news to all their friends, Willow and Tara began planning their engagement party. Giles and Andrew were flying in from England for the event, and Angel, Spike, and Illyria were driving up from L.A. The two ensouled vamps had not originally planned on bringing their friendly neighbourhood god-king with them, but Illyria wanted to "Attend this celebration of betrothal so that she may become more familiar with the rituals of the human race", and since it was never a good idea to piss off a god-king (even one that you'd fed, clothed, and had been teaching the ways of the world for the past three years), the vamps gave in.

On the morning of the party, while Faith and Buffy had taken Sophie for a drive with them to pick up Giles and Andrew from the airport, Connor delivered his purchases of party foods and decorations to Willow and Tara in the kitchen and headed upstairs to see Dawn. The Destroyer was in a good mood due to the fact that Angel and co were arriving that night, and despite his past issues with his father, he was looking forward to seeing him. However, he began to feel slightly worried when he spotted Dawn sitting on her bed with an open spellbook, ingredients at the ready. Connor still fully supported Dawn's magical endeavours, but since the disastrous animal situation, he just preferred she practised under Willow or Tara's supervision.

"Uh, Dawn" he asked tentatively, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to create perfect miniature models of Willow and Tara for their wedding cake" Dawn replied.

"Wedding cake? They haven't even talked about setting a date yet" Connor pointed out, taking a seat on the end of the bed. "The wedding won't be for at least a couple of months, maybe longer."

"I know that, but I want to start practising this spell now so I know I'll have it down when the time comes" Dawn explained.

"Okay then" said Connor, still a little worried. "Um, you don't think this thing could go wrong and accidentally shrink the real Willow and Tara, could it?"

"Don't be such a worry wort, Connor!" Dawn laughed, giving him a light slap on the arm. "I've researched every aspect of this spell inside and out. There's no possible way that could happen."


	12. Itsy Bitsy Witchies

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: You know that bit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Mike Teevee shrinks himself? When Tara and Willow shrink, they're about that small.

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs, Tara was in the kitchen preparing food for the party, and Willow was perched atop a ladder in the lounge hanging up streamers. Then all of a sudden, the red-haired wicca began to feel smaller and smaller, until she eventually realised that she was becoming smaller and smaller, and she soon found herself dangling from the end of a streamer. She was about to yell out to Tara, praying to god that she'd be able to hear her, when Willow heard her fiance's voice.

"Willow, help!" Tara cried. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I've shrunk and I'm stuck in a tub of guacamole!"

"Don't worry baby, I'm coming! I don't know how the hell I'm gonna get there, but I'm coming!" Willow paused, still clinging to the end of the streamer as her eyes scanned the now seemingly huge distance between the lounge and the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, she spotted a tiny golden speck sticking out of the guacomole on the bench. Willow let go of the streamer, her levitation letting her slowly float down to the carpet. She then ran the distance to the kitchen, becoming completely exhausted and out of breath by the time she got there. After taking a few moments to rest, the wicca levitated herself onto the kitchen bench, finding Tara stuck up to her elbows in the tub of guacamole. Tara's eyes widened.

"You're tiny too?" she gasped.

"Uh-huh" Willow replied, taking hold of Tara's wrists and attempting to pull her soulmate free from the green muck. "You know, this stuff seems a lot less appetizing when it's not slathered over nachos." After a few minutes of unsuccessful tugging, Willow sighed. "I don't think I'm going to be able to get you out this way baby. I know, I'll levitate above you and lift you out."

"Okay" said Tara. Within a few minutes, Tara was free.

"Now that that's sorted out" said Willow, "What unspeakable evil do you think's gone and turned us into the itsy-bitsy witchies?"

"I don't think it's unspeakable evil Will" said Tara. "Personally, I think the more likely culprit is an at times unspeakably annoying, but somehow still loveable little sister figure." Willow agreed, and the witches nodded in unison.

"Dawn."

Back upstairs, While Dawn began complaining about her spell apparently not working, Connor let out a quiet sigh of relief. Sure, he might not have liked seeing Dawn look so sad and disappointed, it was better, in his opinion, for a spell to not work at all than it would be for a spell to not work the way it is meant to.

"I just don't get it, I followed all the instructions, it should have worked perfectly!" Dawn cried. "So why? Why didn't it? Tell me Connor!" the destroyer started at the sudden mention of his name, "Why does nothing ever work for me?!" Dawn began sobbing into her pillow, and Connor gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder. Growing up in a hell dimension meant he'd never had much experience with girls. Come to think of it, he'd never really known any girls, apart from amnesiac Cordy, evil beast-master Cordy, the eternally bubbly Fred, cold God-King Illyria, and that hooker he saved from a vampire who'd left when she realised he had no money. Yep, almost zero experience with women, and Angel had sent him to live in a house full of them. _"Great plan, Dad" _he thought sarcastically to himself.

After deciding they needed to get to Dawn and find out what spell she'd done this time, the itsy-bitsy witchies Willow and Tara now stood open-mouthed at the foot of the now enormous staircase.

"We have a big problem."


	13. Stairs And Shoelace Rides

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

The two tiny wiccan soulmates tried to come up with a plan.

"Well, I'm all levitated out for the next couple of hours, so there goes that option" said Willow.

"I suppose I could give you a boost, then you could pull me up" Tara suggested. Willow frowned.

"That'll take a while.."

"I know sweetie, but what other choice do we have?"

"True, our current state of teenyness does kinda narrow down our options a bit." Willow jumped and managed to grab on to the edge of the first stair. "Now would be a good time for that boost, baby."

"Right." Tara pushed Willow up onto the step, and then Willow leaned over to take Tara's hand and pull her up, while being careful not to fall back down. This process continued for the next stair, and the next stair, and the one after that. When they had made it halfway, the witches slumped to the ground, exhausted.

"There has to be an easier way to do this" Willow gasped, laying her head on Tara's shoulder. The witches jumped, startled, when they heard a large creaking noise, but they soon relaxed, smiling when they realised it was the front door.

"We're back!" Buffy called, entering the house along with Faith, Sophie, Andrew, and Giles. The slayer peeked into the kitchen, seeing food left on the bench, then into the lounge, where a streamer hung loose from the ceiling, frowning when she noticed the absence of her friends. "Willow? Tara? Dawn?"

"Here!" Willow cried, as she began to jump up and down waving her tiny arms. "Buffy, we're up here!"

"I don't think they can hear us, baby" Tara sighed. "We're too small." At this moment, the wiccas noticed two huge sneaker-clad feet appear a few steps above them. "It's Connor!" Tara gasped, tugging Willow into the corner of the stair. "We have to be careful not to let him step on us!"

"Actually" Willow smiled, watching as Connor's feet came closer, "I have a better idea."

"What, you're going to let him step on you?" asked Tara, puzzled.

"Nope" said Willow, grabbing her fiance's hand as the son of Angel descended onto the stair they currently occupied. "We're gonna hitch a ride down to the others and find a way to get their attention. Hold on tight!" With her free hand, Willow managed to grab hold of Connor's shoelace as he passed, while Tara tightened her grip on Willow by wrapping an arm around the other witch's waist. The ride turned out to be rough and uncomfortable, and by the end of it, Willow and Tara were both left feeling a little green.

"Eugh" Willow groaned when they had disembarked from Connor's shoe. "I'm never doing that again."

"Same here, baby" said Tara. "So, now what are we going to do?"

"I have no idea" said Willow, looking up at her seemingly enormous friends, who remained completely unaware of their presence. "Let's just keep a safe distance away from everybody's feet until we think of something."

"Buffy, thank god you're home!" Connor cried, relieved. "Dawn's really upset, she's been crying for ages and I don't know what to-" he paused, slightly embarrassed, when he spotted Giles and Andrew, who stared at him curiously. "Uh.. hi."

"Oh right, you guys haven't met yet" Buffy remembered. "Andrew, Giles, this is Connor.."

"Angel's son, yes" Giles interrupted. He had not really known what to expect when it came to meeting the miracle child of two vampires, but he had been curious. The watcher was struck with how normal Connor seemed. Sure, the boy had been raised in a hell dimension and was blessed with all the strengths of a vampire with none of the weaknesses, but looking at him, he appeared to be just like any ordinary twenty-something male. Noticing that Connor was beginning to feel awkward under Giles's scrutinising gaze, Faith stepped in to help him.

"So, Soulboy juniour, do you know where Red and Blondie have got to?" she asked. The Destroyer's face paled.

"You mean they're not here?"

"No" said Buffy, her eyes narrowing when she saw Connor's panicked expression.

"Well, I'm sure they... what I mean is... uh... Oh, I just remembered, I forgot to by corn chips for the nachos Tara was making for the party. They've probably just gone out to buy some. Now, if you'll excuse me, I uh... have to go to the bathroom." Connor rushed back upstairs, leaving two bewildered watchers, two equally bewildered slayers, and a confused child staring after him.

"Does he always behave so peculiarly?" Giles asked.

"No, something fishy's going on here and I'm going to find out what it..." Buffy paused, looking at the carpet. "Damn, we've tracked dirt in. Somebody's gonna have to vacuum."


	14. Mommy Senses

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"You shrank them!" Connor yelled as he burst into Dawn's room, panting.

"What?" Dawn looked up, tears still streaming down her face.

"Willow and Tara! They're missing, you shrank them!"

"But.. but I didn't think that could happen!"

"Didn't think it could happen? Dawn, you said there was no possible way that could happen!" Connor shouted. "There's a big difference!"

"Connor, chill" said Dawn. "Sure, I screwed up,"

"Again" Connor butted in.

"Yes, again" Dawn agreed, sighing, "But Willow always.. oh." Dawn's eyes widened, realising this was one time that she couldn't turn to her flame-haired wiccan friend to fix her mistake.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Buffy was assigning everybody jobs to help prepare for the party. On the matter of Willow and Tara's whereabouts, she had decided to take Connor at his word for now, but if the witches didn't turn up in the next hour... well, heads would roll, she promised that much.

"Okay, Faith, you can vacuum, Giles, Andrew, finish putting up the decorations, and I'll finish up making the snacks..."

"NO!" everyone, including the teeny-tiny Willow and Tara, yelled in unison.

"Fine" Buffy sighed, "Andrew can finish the snacks. Um.. did anyone else hear a weird squeaking noise just then?"

"It was us!" Willow cried, hoping she could draw her friend's attention. "Down here, it was us!"

"Nope" said Faith.

"I don't believe I heard anything" said Giles.

"Me neither" said Andrew.

"Okay then" Buffy shrugged.

"Oh, this is bad" said Willow, panicking as Faith carried the vacuum cleaner into the room and proceeded to plug it into the wall.

"Come on, we have to get to the kitchen" said Tara. "They won't vacuum in there, it's the safest place for us right now." As Faith switched the vacuum on, the tiny wiccans ran. The Dark slayer didn't know it, but with each long stroke of the vacuum cleaner, she was putting her friends in danger. The witches managed to make it about halfway to the kitchen when Willow tripped over. "Willow!" Tara cried.

"Keep going, save yourself!" Willow yelled, as the head of the vacuum descended on her.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to leave you to.." before Tara could finish her sentence, Willow raised her arm, telekinetically hurling her fiance' as far out of harm's way as she could manage. There was no way that she was going to let anything happen to Tara when she'd only just got her life back, and Sophie needed at least one of her parents to make it out of this mess. Speaking of Sophie, the little girl had been sitting on the couch in the lounge room lost in her thoughts, attempting to appear as though she was concentrating on the cartoons on TV. However, just as Willow, clinging to the carpet fibres and hoping for the best, felt herself being lifted from the ground, Sophie leapt up from the couch and dove at the vacuum, pressing the power switch.

"Uh.. what's wrong there Little Red?" Faith asked, raising an eyebrow at the little girl.

"The vacuum was gonna do something bad" said Sophie, staring at the vacuum cleaner like it was a vicious demon. "I can feels it."

"What kind of somethin'?"

"I don't really knows.. it feels like something to do with my mommies. I think they're still in the house, but something's happened to them, I knows it, cause I gots Mommy senses." Faith raised an eyebrow.

"Mommy senses?"

"Uh-huh" said Sophie nodding. "They're kinda like the slayer senses you and Auntie Buffy gots, 'cept I can feel my mommies with them..."

Willow, while mentally thanking whatever power out there had blessed Sophie with her "Mommy senses", missed the end of this conversation, rushing off to find Tara, who didn't appear to be anywhere within her line of sight. The redhead began to panic. She couldn't have thrown Tara that far. Where was she?


	15. Tiny Humans In The Trash Can

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

We all know that Willow had Tara's best interests at heart when she had thrown her soulmate out of the vacuum's path, but what our favourite flame-haired wicca had failed to take into account was the fact that, tiny or not, she was still a mega powerful witch. She had underestimated how far she would be able to throw Tara, and how much force she would be able to throw her with. So, the blonde wicca had sailed straight into the kitchen, unnoticed by Andrew or Buffy, who was sweeping up crumbs, and was knocked unconscious as her head slammed into the side of the bench, before falling to the floor.

"Tara!" Willow yelled, unaware of her fiance's current state. "Tara, where are you?" By now, Willow's worry had skyrocketed, as she had not yet found any sign of the woman she loved. But then, reaching the thresh hold of the kitchen, she spotted Tara's limp form and sped towards her, dropping to her knees by her lover's side. "Tara! Oh goddess, what have I done? Wake up baby, speak to me, come on!" Willow pulled her fiance' into her lap and began gently shaking her. Unfortunately, becoming distracted by her lover's welfare, Willow failed to notice that she had placed herself directly in the path of Buffy's broom. By the time she did notice, it was too late to save herself and Tara from being swept into the shovel with all the crumbs and lint that had been swept up before them. "Stop!" Willow shouted feebly, knowing her friend wouldn't hear any more than a high-pitched squeak. "Buffy, stop!"

"I'm hearing that weird squeaky noise again" said Buffy, turning to Andrew. "Are you sure you can't hear anything?" Andrew tilted his head, listening for a second, before shaking his head.

"I'm sure. Are you feeling okay?" He moved to place a hand on Buffy's forehead, but she stopped him.

"I'm fine, just a little wigged out. It kinda feels like that time when you, Jonathan, and Warren" there was a note of bitterness in the slayer's voice as she said the last name, "kept fast-forwarding time on me, and I was the only one who noticed."

"Oh, me and Jonathan didn't really have anything to do with that one" Andrew explained. "That was Warren's deal. But I made the demon attack you at the construction site, and Jonathan stuck you in that time loop at the Magic Box, because we were holding this competition to.." the Watcher-in-training caught sight of Buffy glaring at him, and quickly shut up. After a few more seconds of glaring, Buffy sighed.

"Forget it, Andrew. The demon at the construction site was the least annoying thing that happened to me during that whole fiasco. Besides, I've forgiven worse, just look at me and Faith. This shovel's pretty full, I'm gonna go out and empty it." Buffy heard another squeak, but tried to ignore it. She carried the shovel outside, stopping along the way to smile at the image of Faith crouching at Sophie's eye-level, listening intently to a discussion on a subject that the little girl obviously considered important. Buffy then dumped the contents of the shovel into the trash can outside, trying to ignore yet another high-pitched squeak. This one almost sounded like a scream.

The squeaks, of course, were Willow's desperate cries for help. She had tried to grab onto the edge of the shovel when Buffy tipped it, but this had been close to impossible due to the fact that she was still clutching the unconscious Tara, so both wiccas had been sent tumbling into the trash. Just as Willow had begun to seriously panic about what the hell she was going to do now, Tara stirred.

"Willow... vacuum.." she mumbled, before sitting bolt upright. "Willow!" She calmed down slightly when she registered her unharmed lover's arms around her. "Thank the goddess you're alright! But how? What happened?"

"I'm so sorry baby!" Willow cried, hugging Tara tighter and kissing her forehead. "I threw you out of the way and then Sophie turned the vacuum off because I think she sensed me so I ran off to find you but you must have hit your head because you were unconscious and then Buffy swept us up and now we're in the trash and it's starting to get dark and.." Tara cut her off with a kiss.

"Willow, stop panicking. It always works out in the end, right? We'll find a way out of this."

That way came just half an hour later, after the sun had sunk below the horizon. A car pulled into the drive way, and one figure climbed out of it, finding herself inexplicably drawn to some sort of power in the trash can, cocking her head at the sight of the two tiny humans who began jumping up and down, waving at her.

"What ya starin' at Blue?" said a voice as two more figures climbed climbed out of the car. The first figure, the god-king Illyria, turned to the other figures, the two ensouled vampires, Spike and Angel.

"There are two tiny humans jumping in the trash can" said Illyria.

"What? Let me see!" said Spike, as he and Angel ran closer, spotting the frantic itsy-bitsy witches. Spike reached into the trash can, scooping them into his palm. "Willow, Tara! What the bloody hell happened to you two?" As the tiny wiccas tried to explain their situation using sign language and high-pitched squeaking, Illyria interrupted.

"I was not aware that humans came in this size" she said, staring curiously at Willow and Tara. "Can you keep them as pets?"


	16. Cold Hand, Warm Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"YOU WHAT?!" Buffy screamed, after Dawn explained what had happened to Willow and Tara. "What in the world made you decide to shrink Willow and Tara?! And why didn't you tell us?! I swept, Faith vacuumed, who knows what could have happened to them... Oh god, everybody check your shoes!"

"I have to say Dawn, this is most irresponsible of you" said Giles as he lifted one foot, then the other, relieved to find that there were no squashed wiccans stuck to either of them.

"And you!" Buffy yelled, rounding on Connor, "You knew, and you didn't tell anyone? Your father is so going to hear about this when he gets here." Connor opened his mouth to defend himself, when Angel, Spike, and Illyria walked through the door. "Watch your feet!" Buffy cried, "Dawn shrank.."

"Willow and Tara? We know" said Angel, pointing to the two tiny wiccas sitting safely in the palm of Spike's hand. They waved cheerily at Buffy.

"Thank god you're okay" said Buffy, rushing to inspect her miniaturised friends for any sign of harm, before looking to Spike. "Where were they?"

"Found 'em in the trash. Well, actually, Big Blue over there found 'em, but I got 'em out."

"The trash? Oh, that would have been my fault" said Buffy guiltily, realisation coming to her. "Those squeaks! Will, that was you wasn't it?" Willow nodded. Connor tried using this opportunity to quietly slip away, and took Dawn's hand to help her sneak off with him, but Illyria spotted them.

"The girl you call Dawn and the boy who frequently lusts after me are escaping."

"Hey, you two get back down here, I'm not done with you yet!" Buffy yelled. The two turned back with their heads bowed. Connor was blushing furiously.

"I don't lust after you Illyria" he mumbled, embarrassed.

"True" said Illyria, cocking her head at him and gesturing to Dawn. "Now it appears that you lust after her."

"I do not!" yelled Connor, his face turning redder, while everybody raised their eyebrows at him, and Dawn giggled.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, boy" said Illyria. "The girl lusts after you too." Dawn's giggling stopped abruptly, and she blushed.

"I do not lust after Connor!" She cried. Faith had spent the length of this exchange desperately trying not to burst out laughing, until Sophie tugged on her sleeve.

"What does lust mean?"

"Uh, well, it means.. I don't think you're old enough to know, Little Red" said Faith, scooping the little girl into her arms and carrying her out of the room. "Let's go watch that movie you like, Beauty & The Beast, isn't it? Man, how the hell did I suddenly become the responsible adult around here?"

"Seriously" said Angel, pointing after the Dark slayer, "How did she become the responsible one?"

"I don't know" said Buffy, "And frankly, I don't really care right now, I've got more important things to worry about, like.."

"The young ones are escaping again" Illyria interrupted. Dawn and Connor froze.

"You can go" said Buffy, "But don't come back down until you've found a spell that will change Willow and Tara back to normal, and no lusting!" Angel looked at her sympathetically as the two twenty-somethings disappeared up the stairs.

"Connor hasn't been too much trouble, has he? I'm happy to take Dawn for a few months when the Senior Partners thing blows over, if that'll make up for it."

"Nah, he's not too bad" Buffy smiled. "It's mostly Dawn, I think she's a bad influence on him.."

Meanwhile, still nestled in Spike's hand, Willow was beginning to feel increasingly helpless and frustrated.

"We can't even help ourselves get out of this mess, because nobody can hear a word we're saying!" she complained. "And no offence to Spike, but his hand is really cold!" Willow crossed her arms, pouting, and Tara laughed. "It's not funny!"

"Sorry" Tara smiled. "You just look so much like Sophie when you do that."

"Really?" asked Willow, sounding a little surprised. In her opinion, Sophie had always looked more like Tara, except for the flaming red hair which she had obviously inherited from her.

"Uh-huh" said Tara, wrapping her arms around Willow as the redhead laid her head against her soulmate's chest. The sound of Tara's heartbeat usually had a calming effect on Willow, reminding her that the blonde was truly alive, and that the three months since her resurrection had not been a dream. Willow's simple presence did the same thing for Tara.

Sitting in the lounge room, Sophie shivered. Faith looked at her, concerned.

"You okay there Little Red? I hope you're not comin' down with somethin'." Sophie shook her head.

"No, I'm okay, but my mommies is cold, and Mommy Willow's fusterated that nobody can hear her." The little girl thought about this for a moment, before leaping from the couch and rushing towards the stairs. "I gots an idea!"

"Hey, where you goin' kid?" asked Faith, speeding after her. "Watch out for Illyria, she's not used to kids, doesn't know she's gotta be gentle with ya!"


	17. The Anti Climactic Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Let's get this party started, woo!" shouted Xander, completely oblivious to the day's events as he walked into the house carrying a six-pack of beer.

"Great timing, Harris. How about we trade?" said Spike, oblivious to Xander's obliviousness. "You take the mini-witches and I'll take the grog." Before the confused Xander had a chance to reply, Spike snatched the beer and gently transferred the tiny Willow and Tara from his own hand to Xander's. Xander's one eye gazed in shock at his miniaturised friends.

"Why does nobody remember to call me when stuff happens?!" he yelled. Tara glared at him, lifting a finger to her lips to silence him before indicating the sleeping Willow. Her misadventures in mini-dom had obviously taken a toll on her. But, despite Tara's efforts in keeping Xander quiet, Willow stirred slightly.

"'S warmer now" she mumbled.

"Yeah" said Tara. "Xander's got us. Go back to sleep if you want."

"Okay" Willow yawned, snuggling closer to her soulmate. "I love you."

"I love you too" Tara smiled, leaning down to kiss Willow's forehead.

Meanwhile, Sophie had located the object that had inspired her idea, and ran out of her room, crashing into Illyria, who had been wandering around upstairs.

"I'm sorry!" Sophie cried, feeling a little frightened as she backed away from the God-King.

"Do not be afraid of me child" said Illyria, cocking her head at the little girl. "I will not harm you. Aside from the fact that you have not provided me with any just cause to do so, such an act would displease the half-breeds, and as much as I despise it, I still require their assistance to adjust to the human world. Now, would you point me in the direction of this dwelling's sanitation facilities?"

"Sani what?" asked Sophie, confused.

"She means the bathroom, Little Red" Faith chuckled, catching up with the little girl. "Third door on your left Big Blue." Faith watched as the God-King walked off, ensuring that she reached her destination before turning back to Sophie. "So, what's ya big idea kiddo?"

"It's a micafone" said Sophie, holding up the object in her hand. "If Mommy Willow and Mama Tara talks into it, we might be able to hears them."

"You are incredibly smart for your age, you know that Little Red? I reckon you could even give ya Mommy Willow a run for her money."

Back downstairs, Buffy was dealing with a very annoyed and upset Xander.

"Xand, I'm really sorry I didn't call you" said the blonde, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. He had his back to Buffy, his crossed arms positioned in such a way as to ensure that he did not accidently crush the tiny wiccas resting in his hand. "I meant to, but I thought since you'd be here for the party soon anyway, It didn't really matter." Before Xander could reply, Sophie ran into the room, with Faith right behind her.

"Don't worry mommies, we can hears you now!" The little girl cried happily. She switched the mic on, held it up to Xander's hand, and heard... snoring. Both tiny witches had fallen asleep.

"Well that was bloody anti-climactic" Spike grumbled.

"But it worked, at least" Angel shrugged.

* * *

AN: I know it's short, and kinda dumb, but I just got back from a four-hour car trip and I'm tired.


	18. A Good Old Fashioned Research Party

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Mommy Willow, Mama Tara, wake up!" cried Sophie, grabbing Xander's wrist and giving it a light jiggle in an attempt to rouse her sleeping mothers. "Wake up, wake up!" Tara stirred first, raising an eyebrow in questioning when she registered everybody's eyes staring at her.

"You can talk to us, Tara" said Buffy, smiling. "If you speak into the microphone Sophie's holding, we can hear you."

"Really? That's great!" said Tara happily, beaming when she realised that she had in fact been heard. She turned to the still sleeping Willow, gently shaking her soulmate awake. "Willow! Will, wake up, the others can hear us now."

"Wha.." Willow yawned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "How?"

"I gotted a micafone!" Sophie smiled.

"Yeah, that's my clever girl!" said Willow proudly. "I'd hug you but I'm too tiny. Oh, give me your pinky, I can hug your pinky." Sophie offered the pinky of the hand that was not currently clutching the microphone to Willow, giggling as both she and Tara hugged it.

"Uh, it's great that we can hear Red and Glinda and all, but how does that help us solve the problem?"

"Easy" Tara smiled. "We can help point Connor and Dawn in the right direction to change us back to normal, we'll tell them which books to check."

"We can probably find a way to fix this quicker if we all help" said Angel.

"A valid point" Giles agreed, cleaning his glasses.

"Okay, we'll all pitch in" said Buffy.

"Yay!" Willow cheered. "Nothing better than a good old-fashioned research party!" Xander looked down at his tiny best friend and chuckled, shaking his head.

"That's our Willow."

Soon, after allowing Connor and Dawn to come back downstairs, and settling Sophie back in the loungeroom with her movie, the gang set to work researching how to return their two favourite wiccans to their regular size. Buffy couldn't help the small smile that spread across her face as she looked around at her friends, all with books laying open in front of them, except, of course, for Willow and Tara, who sat beside the microphone in the centre of the table that the gang was currently seated around. Buffy's smile did not go unnoticed by Faith, who couldn't help smiling herself.

"What's the smile for B? You found somethin'?"

"No" said Buffy, laying her head on Faith's shoulder. "It's just that having everyone together researching like this reminds me of the old days. It's kinda nice."

"Yeah.. I never usually stuck around for this part before" said Faith, feeling a little awkard.

"I know" said Buffy, kissing Faith's cheek, "But you're here now, and that makes this even better than the old days."

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Spike was dealing with a certain God-King's newly discovered apparent inability to read modern English.

"Spike, what is this strange symbol?" Illyria asked. Spike looked over her shoulder at it, and sighed.

"It's the letter W."

"And this one?"

"i"

"I see" said Illyria, before pointing at the book again. "So this must be an upside-down i."

"No, that's an exclamation mark" said Spike, becoming frustrated. "Listen Bluebird, you're not gonna be much help if you can't bloody read. How about you go get us some snacks?"

"Human treats loaded with sodium and artificial flavourings?"

"Yeah, that's the stuff" Spike nodded. Illyria stood and walked off into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a bowl of potato chips. The chips were passed around the table, then Angel crushed one, giving the pieces to Willow and Tara. The gang then returned to their research, and before long, Connor spoke up, pushing his book towards the tiny wiccans in the middle of the table.

"Will this help?"

"Not sure, I can't see it properly" said Willow, craning her neck to look at the book. "Somebody pick me up." Faith reached over and lifted Willow over the book, giving her a better view of the transformation reversal spell Connor had found, while Buffy held the microphone up next to her friend. The redhead beamed. "This could work!"

"Great!" cried Dawn. "I'll just go get the spell supplies and then I can.."

"NO!" Buffy, Faith, Willow, Tara, and Connor shouted in unison.

"Sit. Down." Buffy growled, glaring at her sister. Dawn sat, pouting.

"I hate you" she grumbled.


	19. The Snoopy Dance: A Rite Of Passage

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Giles, I think you should do the spell" Willow suggested as Faith and Buffy returned her and the microphone to their original positions in the centre of the table.

"That is probably the best option" Tara agreed, turning to look up at the Watcher. "You have the most magical experience apart from me and Willow."

"Hey! I've done way more spells than Giles!" Dawn protested.

"Yes, and how many of those have turned out well? Oh that's right, none!" Buffy snapped. "You just shut up and stay out of it Dawn, you've caused enough trouble today already!" Dawn pouted, crossing her arms grumpily, while Connor reached over to give her a comforting pat on the back. Buffy glared at him for a second, before turning back to her Watcher. She had more important things to worry about right now than the fact that her sister apparently seemed to be falling for the miracle child of her vampire ex. "Will and Tara are right, Giles. You should do it."

"Of course" said Giles, nodding as his gaze moved to the two miniaturised witches. "Although I will require your assistance to ensure that I'm casting the spell correctly. I am nowhere near as magically adept as the two of you."

"No problem, Giles, we'll be right here the whole time" said Willow. "We kind of have to be actually, cause if we move too far away from the microphone nobody can hear us, and if nobody can hear us they might accidently squish us, or we could fall off the table and no-one would hear us scream, and if we fell off the table we might get stepped on..."

"Willow, babbling" said Tara, gently nudging her fiance'.

"Oh, sorry" Willow grinned. "But seriously Giles, you have nothing to worry about. It's a really simple spell, and we'll be with you every step of the way." Willow's faith in him raised Giles confidence considerably.

"Andrew, fetch the spell supplies listed in the book" he said to the soon to be Watcher, who quickly ran off to locate the needed items. A wide grin crossed Giles face. "I have the two most powerful witches in the country by my side. What could possibly go wrong?"

Thankfully, nothing, apart from one or two minor problems. Willow's nose didn't grow with the rest of her, and Tara's hands grew too big, but these mistakes were easily corrected by Willow now that she had returned to her regular size.

"Okay, now we can get the party going!" Xander declared. "Spike, give me a beer will ya?"

"Sorry, Harris" Spike replied. "I just drank the last one."

"And you just reminded me why I hate you." Xander sulked for a while after that, but was eventually snapped out of it when Sophie asked him to teach her the Snoopy dance, a plan masterminded by Willow to cheer up her grumpy friend. However, Willow had not expected Illyria to decide to join in the Snoopy dance lessons, after Spike had decided that it would be funny to tell the God-King that learning the Snoopy dance was a human rite of passage. While Willow, like everybody else, found the sight hilariously funny, a small feeling of sadness also came over her, and she sighed.

"What's wrong, Will?" Tara asked, concerned.

"Nothing really" Willow replied. "Illyria just wigs me out a little, because she looks so much like Fred, and Fred was so sweet. I only met her once so I didn't know her that well, but.."

"I did" Tara interrupted. Willow raised a confused eyebrow at her fiance'.

"How? You never met her, and Illyria consumed her soul, so she couldn't have gone to heaven."

"That's not completely true" Tara explained, smiling. "Her soul wasn't consumed, it was just broken. The powers wanted to leave it be, except for Cordy and her little gang of rebel spirits, which included me. It took us a while, but we all helped, and we managed to find the pieces of Fred's soul and made her whole again. You should have seen the look on Wesley's face when he saw that she was there to greet him. They were so happy to be back together."

"Kind of like us, only backwards" Willow grinned.

"Yeah" Tara smiled, leaning in to give Willow a long kiss.

* * *

AN: I had to put that little bit about Fred in there, 'cause I loved her so much and wanted her to have some sort of happy ending. You'll learn more about the other members of Cordy's gang of rebel spirits in later chapters, see if you can guess who they are. Spike, Angel, and Illyria are also going to reapear later on. I'll just finish with a little summary of the next story arc :

Connor has trouble understanding women. Dawn thinks she has found a spell to help him, only to discover that it is actually the spell that Willow had planned to use on RJ in "Him".


	20. The Guest List

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

The next few months went by with fairly few problems. A few vamps here, a demon there, but thankfully, no more disastrous spells courtesy of Dawn. The one time key had become distracted from her efforts to learn the ways of the wicca by the realisation that she, despite her earlier protests to the contrary, had developed a massive crush on Connor. Connor felt the same same way about Dawn, but unfortunately, Angel's son was totally clueless when it came to women. Dawn's flirting and not-so-subtle hints were completely lost on him. She found this understandable, because, of all the women Connor knew or had ever known, two were dead, four were gay, one was a God-King, and quite a few were various levels of evil. Yes, Dawn understood, but that didn't make the situation any less frustrating. So, Dawn decided to find a way to help her would-be suitor. And that's when the trouble began...

"Do we really have to decide on the guest list right now?" said Willow, flopping onto the couch beside Tara, while Sophie sat on the carpet playing with her doll, Cordy. The little girl had named the doll herself, giving her mothers yet another reason to marvel at the mystery that was their daughter's mind. "I mean, our relationships with a lot of the people you'd usually invite to a wedding are kind of complicated."

"I know, Willow" Tara sighed, "But the wedding's in three months, we have to send out invitations soon."

"Okay" said Willow, thinking for a moment. "Let's start with the obvious. Everybody in this house is coming, and Xander's coming."

"Of course they're all coming!" Tara laughed. "At least I hope they are, apart from Connor, they're all in the wedding party!"

"I know, but we have to send Xander an invitation anyway. You know how he gets when he thinks he's being left out of things."

"Yeah" Tara agreed. "Well, we're definitely inviting Giles and Andrew."

"And we should invite some of the potentials" said Willow. "Not Kennedy though, but I doubt she'd want to come anyway. The ceremony's later in the afternoon, so Spike and Angel should be able to make it if they keep to the shadows, or they should at least make it to the reception."

"And if we invite them we have to invite Illyria, who knows what she could get up to if she was left alone for too long."

"So, that's everyone we're definitely asking" said Willow, counting on her fingers. "Who are we not going to invite?"

"Well, my family, obviously" said Tara. She had not bothered to inform them of her resurrection, because in her opinion, her 'family' was not her family at all. Tara planned on changing her surname to Rosenberg as soon as she and Willow were married. She had also rejected Willow's original plan of hyphenating Sophie's surname, and making it Rosenberg-Maclay. She did not want her daughter to have anything linking her with her grandfather. After all, if he made Tara believe she was a demon for twenty years for no apparent reason other than keeping her under his thumb, how would he treat Sophie, who had been born from magic and spent the first three years of her life with demons? No, Tara would not let her little girl be influenced by anyone who would treat her existence as anything other than the miracle it was.

"We can send invites to my parents, but I'm not sure if they'll show" said Willow with a slightly sad smile. "I haven't spoken to them much since Sunnydale fell, and I don't think they ever really liked you that much, because you're, you know, the girl that turned their good little jewish daughter into a gay wiccan. Then there's the whole matter of trying to explain to them where Sophie came from, and why you're not dead anymore. They're not all that big on the mystical forces. Have I ever told you about the time my Mom tried to burn me at the stake?"

"Yeah, you told me" said Tara, as Willow shuffled into her lap. "Hey, where is everybody this morning?"

"Buffy and Faith are still asleep, Connor's in the shower, and Dawn..." Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced the air. Willow leapt up, pulling Tara to her feet, and the two witches ran for the staircase.

"Sophie, stay down here!" Tara yelled.

"Okay, Mama Tara" the little girl answered as her mothers disappeared up the stairs. "Don't worry, Cordy will look after me. Cordy looks after everybody."


	21. Oopsy Daisy, Connor's A Girl

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Willow and Tara sped towards Dawn's room, as the screaming sounded like it was coming from a girl. This theory was proved wrong when they spotted Dawn bursting out of her room, Buffy and Faith emerging from theirs not long after her, and running to the bathroom.

"Oh god, oh god, what the hell have I done?" Dawn cried, throwing open the door to the bathroom as the others sped up behind her. Their mouths fell open in shock. Connor stared at his reflection, still screaming. His hair had grown, his eyelashes were longer, his facial features had strangely softened, and two quite obvious lumps had formed on his chest. Connor was a girl. After a few more seconds of staring, when Connor's screams had finally subsided, Faith burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Faith, stop it, it isn't funny" said Buffy, fighting desperately against the urge to join her girlfriend in laughter. "Oh, who am I kidding, it's hilarious!" Buffy collapsed into fits of giggles, along with Tara and Willow.

"It is not freaking hilarious!" Connor yelled in his new higher pitched female voice as he, or more correctly, she, grabbed a towel to cover herself. "I'm a GIRL! You!" she shouted, pointing accusingly at Dawn, the only member of the group not in hysterics. "You turned me into a freaking GIRL, Dawn!"

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Dawn cried. "I wanted to help you understand women better, and then I found this old spell of Willow's and..."

"Oh," Willow interrupted, her laughter slowly subsiding, "I think I know which spell you're talking about."

"Which one?" Buffy asked, as her laughter also faded.

"Well, remember RJ?"

"Oh" said Buffy, realisation dawning on her as she remembered the events that transpired during that particular incident.

While the rest of the gang set about researching a way to reverse the spell, seeing as Willow had not had a reason for coming up with one at the time, Buffy rang Giles in England, asking him to call back with any information that he or Andrew could find. She then called Xander, who, after he had stopped laughing his head off over Connor's current Dawn-induced gender-bending predicament, said to give him an hour or two and he'd be over to help.

"None of my clothes fit me now, damn it!" cried Connor angrily, marching down the stairs in a T-shirt and pair of jeans that were both way too big for his/her new female form. Faith was unable to stop herself from bursting into another fit of hysterical laughter, but Buffy sighed. For her, the humorous side of this situation was quickly wearing off.

"Dawn, go find something that will fit him, or her, or whatever he is" she ordered. Dawn stood to obey, actually feeling remorse for her actions, while Connor quickly objected.

"Oh no! No freaking way! I may be suffering from a temporary state of female-ness, but no way in hell am I going to wear girl's..." at that moment, Connor's over-sized men's jeans fell down, setting off yet another round of laughs from Faith. "Well, maybe just some pants" Connor finished, blushing as Dawn climbed the stairs and the pair of them quickly headed to the youngest Summers' bedroom to find the she-destroyer some better fitting clothes. Buffy let out another sigh before reaching for the phone, she needed to make one more call. She picked it up and dialled the familiar number, waiting for an answer.

"Hey Angel, it's Buffy. No, Connor's fine, it's just, um... How do you feel about having a daughter?"

* * *

AN: This is now officially my longest story, and it's nowhere near over! Yay! Oh, I promise to update 'Tara And The Witch' soon for those who read it, there's just a really long song in that chapter and I've had to keep going back and checking the lyrics while I'm typing.


	22. Prince of Darkness, Scourge of Europe

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Here, these should fit" said Dawn, handing Connor a pair of black tracksuit pants.

"Thanks" said Connor, taking the garment. "But I'm still majorly pissed off with you right now."

"I know, and you have every right to be" said Dawn. "But please believe me when I say that, I am really, really sorry, and I'm totally on board with the others in changing you back as soon as possible. As cute a boy as you are, your features don't work so well on a girl." Connor froze for a second as he/she pulled on the pants that Dawn had given him/her.

"You think I'm cute?" he/she asked.

"Well, as far as boys go you're.. yeah, I think you're cute" Dawn admitted, blushing. "As a boy, I mean."

"Yeah, well as far as girls go.. I think you're kind of cute too, Dawn." The two of them stood for a while in awkward silence, which Dawn eventually broke.

"This is really awkward."

"Can't argue with you there."

"Uh, maybe we should talk about this some more when you're not, you know, a girl."

"Yeah" Connor agreed, nodding.

Downstairs, Buffy groaned as she hung up the phone.

"How'd it go?" Willow asked, looking up from her research.

"Well, Spike thinks it's hilarious, but Angel doesn't quite see the funny side of the situation" Buffy sighed, standing up. "Hey Faith, I hid some of Will's more powerful magic books under our bed to stop Dawn from finding them. Will you come and get them with me?"

"Sure" said Faith, standing to follow her girlfriend. "But why'd you hide 'em under our bed, B?"

"Because Dawn never goes into our room any more after that time she walked in on us while we were, well, you know" said Buffy, blushing slightly.

"Yeah" Faith replied, smirking as she and Buffy headed upstairs. "Good times." Willow and Tara returned to their research, then a few minutes later, Sophie skipped into the room, clutching Cordy in her small hands.

"Whats did Auntie Dawn do this time?" the little girl sighed, looking around at her parent's books.

"She turned Connor into a girl" Willow answered, looking up at her daughter.

"Is he a pretty girl?"

"Not particularly, no" said Willow.

"But he gots to be pretty if he's the princess of darkness!"

"What?" asked Tara, thinking that she and Willow had obviously missed something.

"Well Uncle Angel used to be the prince of darkness, and Connor's his baby, so if Connor's a girl now he should be the princess of darkness" said Sophie. Willow couldn't help but laugh.

"I think you've got your uncles a little mixed up there, sweetie" she explained. "Uncle Spike was the Prince of Darkness. Uncle Angel was the Scourge of Europe."

"Oh, okay" said Sophie, before skipping happily back into the lounge room to watch cartoons.

Upstairs, Faith had just finished dragging one box of spell books from under the bed, while Buffy knelt down on all fours, reaching for another. She had it half-way out when she spotted something else.

"Hey Faith, your wallet's down here."

"Really? I probably dropped it yesterday" Faith replied. Buffy shuffled out from under the bed, holding Faith's open wallet in one hand and dragging the box of spell books with the other. She spotted a photo that had been tucked into the wallet, and beamed.

"You have a picture of me in here."

"'Course I do" said Faith, a little awkwardly. "Aren't people supposed to keep pictures of their girlfriend in their wallet? Sure, this is the first time I've ever kept a photo in there, but.." The Dark Slayer was cut off when Buffy stood and pulled her towards her, kissing her deeply.

"You know, you are so sweet underneath that whole tough girl act of yours."

"Don't go tellin' too many people that B, you'll ruin my rep."

"Yeah right" Buffy laughed. "Like you didn't ruin it yourself yesterday when you sat playing Tea Party with Sophie for two hours."

"Hey, that kid makes really good imaginary tea!"

"Sure" Buffy smiled, kissing her again.

"Uh, B" said Faith, after Buffy's lips had moved to her earlobe, "Not that I'm complainin' or anythin, but shouldn't we be gettin' these books back downstairs so we can work out how to turn Soulboy Junior back into an actual boy?"

"It can wait" Buffy whispered, beginning a trail of kisses down Faith's neck. "It might be good for Connor to get in touch with his feminine side."


	23. Chick Flicks 101

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

When the chosen two headed back downstairs with the books a while later, they found Willow in Tara's lap kissing her passionately, their research forgotten.

"Hey you two, save it for the honeymoon" Buffy shouted down at them. "We have to find a way to change Connor back before Spike drives Angel nuts with his laughing and one of them ends up in an ashtray."

"Okay, we got a little distracted" Willow admitted, moving back to her own seat. "But it's not like you can talk. Seriously, how long does it take to bring some books downstairs? Don't think that we didn't work out why you were up there for nearly two hours."

"Okay, I admit, we got a little distracted too" said Buffy, blushing slightly. At that moment, the group began t o hear crying coming from the lounge room. When the four headed in to investigate, they found Dawn and Sophie comforting a weeping Connor.

"Why did Jack have to die? Why?!" the She-destroyer sobbed.

"Uh, Pipsqueak, why's the she-male cryin'?" Faith asked Dawn.

"Well..."

Earlier that day, not long after Buffy and Faith had disappeared upstairs, Dawn had decided to use Connor's current predicament to her advantage, thinking that it could be a blessing in disguise. After all, maybe becoming a girl was the best way for him to learn how to understand one. But the female mind was a complex thing, so if she was going to teach Connor how to understand women, she'd have to ease him into it, and start with something simple.

"We're gonna watch a movie?" said Connor skeptically, while Sophie sat in the corner, drawing her own artist's impression of the Destroyer's female self. "That's your big plan to help me understand girls? We're gonna watch a movie?!"

"Not just any movie" said Dawn, as she placed the disc in the DVD player. "One of the greatest, most popular romantic movies of all time. And, It launched the film career of one of Hollywood's greatest heartthrobs. We're watching _Titanic_!" Connor slapped his/her forehead, groaning. He had heard of this movie, as well as hearing the story of the real Titanic from Spike and Angel, and had never had any desire to see it. But, as the movie began to play, Connor found himself enjoying it. His new female hormones allowed him to be caught up in the romance of Jack and Rose's relationship. Unfortunately, these same hormones also caused Jack's death to have a severe, slightly unhealthy emotional impact on the She-Destroyer.

"Jack can't die!" Connor cried, as he watched Leonardo DiCaprio's frozen form disappear into the icy water. "He and Rose were supposed to be together forever!" At this point, he/she burst into tears.

"Connor, calm down, it's just a movie" said Dawn, trying to calm her friend down.

"But the Titanic was real!"

"The boat, yes, the iceberg, yes, but Jack and Rose, and all the other people in the movie are just fictional characters."

"I don't care!" said Connor, continuing to sob. "That doesn't mean Jack has to die! Why did Jack have to die? Why!" Connor's head dropped into his hands as he kept crying loudly and hysterically, causing Sophie to come and help comfort him, and eventually drawing the attention of the other Scoobies...

"And that's when you guys came in" said Dawn, concluding her story. The four women listening remained silent for a few minutes.

"Well Dawn" Buffy said eventually. "This just demonstrates yet another situation in which you have been incredibly stupid."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, annoyed and a little confused by her sister's words.

"Well, _Titanic_ is like the mother of all chick flicks" Buffy explained. "It's way too heavy for a first timer. You should have started with something light and funny, like _Legally Blonde_, to ease him into it."

"Oh" said Dawn.


	24. Partners In Crime

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

So, the slayers and wiccas left Dawn alone with the weeping Connor, deciding it was time she took responsibility for her own mistake, and returned to their research.

"Fear not, noble research buddies!" cried Xander as he burst through the door a while later, "For it is I, Xander, and I come bearing donuts and twinkies!" He deposited the items in the middle of the table and looked around. "So, where's our resident gender-bender?"

"In the lounge room with the Pipsqueak cryin' his eyes out" said Faith, reaching for a donut. Xander peeked into the lounge to catch a glimpse of the still sobbing She-Destroyer, then quickly turned back to the others, trying not to laugh, but failing miserably.

"That is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen, I am so bringing it up next time Deadboy visits!" said Xander between fits of laughter. "But, uh, why's he.. she.. whatever we're calling Connor right now, crying?"

"Dawn made him watch _Titanic_" Buffy explained.

"He's crying because of _Titanic_? That's so stupid! Gee, I guess Connor really is a girl!" At this last comment, Willow smirked, and Xander frowned. "What?"

"Oh, nothing" said Willow. "I was just remembering what happened the first time me and a certain best friend who shall remain nameless saw that movie."

"I did not cry during _Titanic_!"

"Sure" said Willow, her smirk widening.

"I didn't!" Xander protested. "My eye was just a little watery because I got popcorn in it!"

"Is that why you gots to wear an eye-patch?" asked Sophie, who had been sitting between Willow and Tara, drawing.

"No, I wear the eye-patch because... uh..."

"That story's a bit scary for you sweetie, you're too little" said Tara, reaching out to tuck a few loose strands of red hair behind her daughter's ear. "We'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

"Okay, Mama Tara" said Sophie, returning to her picture. Xander took the empty seat on one side of Buffy, and Willow pushed a book towards him, leaving the group to continue their research. In fact, they all became so absorbed in their work that nobody paid much attention to Dawn and a slightly sniffly Connor headed upstairs, except for Sophie who glanced up at the pair briefly, giving them a small lopsided smile.

A little while later, Faith headed upstairs to go to the bathroom. On the way there, however, she heard music, and what sounded like bed springs creaking in Dawn's room. The door was left open a crack, so the Dark Slayer decided to peek in and investigate. Her mouth fell open in shock at what she saw.

_"We are young! Heartache to heartache, we stand. No promises, no demands. Love is a battlefield!" _

Dawn and Connor were both jumping up and down on Dawn's bed, singing into hairbrushes. Faith was struggling not to burst out laughing and give herself away.

_"We are strong! No one can tell us we're wrong. Searching our hearts for so long, both of us knowing. Love is a battlefield."_

Faith quickly crept into her own bedroom and grabbed her cellphone, before rushing back to film the spectacle of the singing She-Destroyer so she could send Spike the video. While Angel was the one the Dark Slayer would call on in a crisis, as a partner in crime, Spike was her vamp.


	25. Halfway To Gaysville

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

After a while, Xander decided that he needed to go to the bathroom too, so he headed upstairs to tell Faith to hurry up, raising an eyebrow when he saw the Dark Slayer poking her mobile through Dawn's slightly ajar bedroom door.

"Uh, Faith" he asked, "What are you doing?" Faith turned to him, placing a finger to her lips before gesturing him to come closer and see for himself. Xander peeked into the room and burst out laughing, unwittingly setting off a series of unfortunate events. Faith heard Connor's cry of surprise at the unexpected noise, the crash as he fell from the bed in an awkward position, and winced at the She-Destroyer's yelp of pain as her slayer hearing picked up the unmistakable sound of a bone snapping.

"Shit! Damn it Xander, you were supposed to be quiet!" the Dark Slayer yelled at her one-eyed friend as they watched a worried Dawn rushing to examine Connor's quickly swelling ankle.

"Sorry" said Xander. He paused for a moment. "So.. can you send me a copy of that video?"

Meanwhile, downstairs, Buffy was wondering what was taking Faith so long and was about to go check on her, when The Dark Slayer appeared at the top of the stairs carrying Connor who was wincing in pain and clutching a very swollen looking ankle. Buffy leapt to her feet as Faith made her way down the stairs, Xander and Dawn following her.

"Okay, what the hell happened up there?" the blonde slayer yelled.

"Dawnie and the She-male were jumpin' on her bed and he fell off and broke his ankle" Faith explained, before turning to Willow, the magical medic of the household. "Can you take a look at it Red?"

"Sure" said Willow, standing up. "Are you sure it's broken?"

"Yeah, I heard the bone snappin'."

"And it hurts like a bitch" Connor added, forcing Tara to clap her hands over Sophie's ears in an attempt to shield her from the She-Destroyer's profanity. Willow glared at the boy...girl..._"goddess, this is confusing",_the wicca thought to herself, before deciding that the glaring was useless. Connor was the person in the house most greatly prone to swearing in front of Sophie. Even Faith managed to mind her language most of the time. Willow guessed that part of Connor's problem stemmed from the fact that he had grown up in a hell dimension, and had then lived in a hotel with his ensouled vampire father and a team of demon hunters. Still, that was no excuse for swearing in front of a child, and he would have to learn, but Willow accepted that they had more important matters to deal with right now, deciding that she'd find a way to deal with Connor's dirty mouth later.

"Okay, Faith" she said, "bring him.. her.. Connor, over to the couch in the lounge." Faith carried Connor to the couch and laid him down, then stepped aside to let Willow assess the damage to the ankle. Buffy turned to her sister, trying to keep her anger under control.

"Dawn, why the hell were you and Connor jumping on the bed?"

"Well, uh, um.." Dawn began, trying to think of the least embarrassing way to explain what had happened. "We, uh, I mean, um.."

"Today, Dawn" Buffy growled, her hands on her hips.

"Okay" Dawn sighed. "I was upstairs with Connor and there was a marathon of the greatest pop songs of the 80's on the radio. We started singing along to "_Love is a battlefield"_with hairbrushes and jumping on the bed, but then Xander came past and he laughed so Connor panicked and lost his balance and fell." Dawn closed her eyes, preparing for Buffy's yell, but it didn't come. Instead, Dawn was surprised to find her sister bursting into a hysterical fit of laughter.

"First you make him cry watching _Titanic_, and now you've got him singing _Love is a battlefield_?" asked Buffy between giggles. "God Dawn, if you keep going on like this Connor will be halfway to gaysville by the time we get him back to normal!"

"I will not!" Connor yelled. The She-Destroyer tried to move, then winced as pain shot through her ankle.

"It's definitely broken" said Willow. "Faith, take him back upstairs and lay him in bed, it'll be easier to keep the ankle straight, and I'll see what I can do to fix it." Faith lifted Connor off the couch and carried him back upstairs, with Willow, Xander, Dawn, and a still giggling Buffy following. This left only Tara and Sophie downstairs. Tara closed her book, deciding that she was due for a break, and leaned over to take a look at her daughter's artwork.

"What are you drawing sweetie?" she asked.

"Me, and Mommy Willow, and you, holding the baby" Sophie replied. Tara's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"But we don't have a baby" she said, although her mind flashed with the image of blonde-haired bundle she had bounced on her knee in the dream that she, Willow, and Sophie had shared on the night of her resurrection. Until now, Tara hadn't given much more thought to the dream, instead concentrating on reconnecting with Willow and bonding with the child they already had.

"Not yet" said Sophie, flashing their shared lopsided smile at her mother as she looked up from her drawing. "But she's coming soon."


	26. More Than Okay

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs, Willow worked her magic on Connor's ankle.

"There you go, all better" she said eventually. "Don't walk on it for a few hours though, it'll still be a little unstable."

"Okay, thanks Willow" Connor replied. Willow, Faith, Xander, and Buffy left the room, and Dawn sat herself down on the end of Connor's bed.

"So.."

"Dawn, whatever you're planning, I want no part of it."

"But.."

"No."

"I was just going to.."

"No" Connor repeated, crossing his arms. "Whatever it is, the answer is no. In the space of one day, you've turned me into a girl, forced me to watch a crappy movie that made me cry, and made me embarass myself so I fell off a bed and broke my ankle. And I'm still no closer to understanding women, which was meant to be the whole point!"

"Okay, number one, I didn't mean to turn you into a girl, and as I've said a hundred times already, I'm sorry" Dawn was beginning to become frustrated with the fact that everybody seemed to be either yelling or laughing at her today. "Number two, you obviously enjoyed watching _Titanic_, number three, it was your own fault you fell off the stupid bed, and number four, the only reason I wanted to make you understand women was so that I could finally get it through your thick skull that I like you, like, like you like you!" As soon as she said it, Dawn gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Uh-oh, did I just say that out loud?" Connor could only nod, dumbstruck.

Meanwhile, back downstairs, Willow leapt to her feet.

"I've found it! I found the reversal spell for the one I was gonna use on RJ! We can change Connor back!" she cried happily.

"Good" sighed Buffy, hanging up the phone and turning to glare at Faith, "because _somebody _sent Spike a video of Connor singing and falling off the bed. If Illyria wasn't apparently so intent on not letting Angel kill her pet, we would have ended up with one very dusty ensouled vampire. As it is, we have one extremely pissed off one with a black eye and the skin missing from his left butt cheek. Don't ask me how that happened, 'cause I already told Angel I never wanna know."

"Sorry, B" Faith grinned. "Couldn't help myself. Anyway, a pissed off Angel isn't dangerous. If he starts to suddenly get really happy though, then we can worry." Buffy tried to maintain her glare, but her gaze soon softened.

"That's actually a good point, but still, if I didn't love you so much, I'd kill you." Faith just chuckled, leaning over to plant a kiss on Buffy's cheek.

"Lucky for me, then."

"Don't push it, Faith" said Buffy, before turning to her red-haired friend. "Can we just get this over with, Will? I wanna be able to give Angel some good news before he does anymore damage to Spike, or Illyria does anymore damage to Angel." Willow nodded, heading for the stairs as an embarassed, slightly upset looking Dawn came down.

"What's up Dawnie?" the Wicca asked. "You look a little down in the dump-y."

"Yeah. I uh.. said some stuff to Connor, and it got really awkward."

"Finally told him you like him, huh squirt?" Asked Faith, causing everyone's eyes to turn towards her. "What? We were all thinkin' it." Dawn dropped her face into her hands and groaned.

That night, Connor, ankle healed and restored to his former manly glory, crept into Dawn's room.

"Uh.. hi" he whispered. Dawn looked up from the magazine she was reading.

"It's okay Connor, you don't have to be nice to make me feel better. I know I was an idiot, forget I said anything."

"No, I was an idiot" said Connor, sitting down on the end of the bed. "I know you didn't mean to turn me into a girl, I _did_ like _Titanic_, It was my fault I fell off the bed, and, well... I kinda like like you too, I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Oh" Dawn paused for a moment, as if waiting for him to say something else. "Connor."

"Yeah?"

"I think this is the part when you're supposed to kiss me."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Okay." Connor shuffled closer to Dawn, then leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers in a soft, shy kiss. He pulled away a few seconds later. "Was that okay?"

"It was more than okay" Dawn smiled, leaning in for another kiss.

* * *

AN: Aww! Next arc: The wedding, yay!


	27. Putting Things In Perspective

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

It was afternoon on the day before Willow and Tara's wedding, and Willow had spent the day running around in a panic, making phone calls to Giles to ensure he and Andrew hadn't missed their flight (They hadn't, Willow was so stressed that she had forgotten they'd arrived two days ago along with the handful of potentials she'd invited and were staying in a nearby hotel), Angel and Spike to tell the vamps the easiest way to get into the venue while avoiding sunlight and to remind them to make Illyria take on Fred's form so she didn't frighten the celebrant ( "We know, Willow" Angel had said, "You've called every day this week!"), as well as the florist, the celebrant, the owner of the venue, and anybody else involved in ensuring that the big day went off without a hitch. She was currently speaking to the caterer, while an amused Tara watched from the kitchen, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Sophie.

"Yes, the jugs of warm pig's blood are completely necessary!" Willow yelled into the phone. "Two of the guests have a very rare medical condition and need to drink blood at regular intervals." She paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line. "I don't know why it has to be pig's blood, I'm not their doctor, just have it ready! And remember, there can't be any shrimp around, my fiance's allergic. You got all that? Okay, bye." Willow hung up and let out a deep breath, running a hand through her hair.

"You've been on the phone all day, Will" Tara smiled, placing the sandwich in front of Sophie who had been sitting patiently at the table. "Take a break, come have some lunch."

"Okay" Willow headed for the kitchen, but then changed her mind, turning back to reach for the phone. "Maybe I should call Angel one more time.."

"No" said Tara as she rushed over, snatching the phone from her soon-to-be wife and placing it back in its cradle. "I think you've bothered him enough this week."

"But what if he and Spike forget the safe way in?" she cried. "I don't want any of our friends turning to dust at our wedding" Willow sighed, wrapping her arms around Tara's waist. "I want everything to be perfect..."

"As long as we're married at the end of the day, it will be" Tara smiled, tucking a stray hair behind Willow's ear. "As for Spike and Angel, you're instructions are probably burned into their brains by now, so don't worry."

"I guess you're right, but.."

"Will, if you have to do something wedding related, go pack your bag for tonight" said Tara. "You're staying at Xander's, remember?"

"Do I have to?" Willow pouted.

"Yes. You know it's bad luck for us to see each other before the wedding."

"Oh, okay." Willow, still pouting, headed for the stairs. "But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

So, Willow packed her bag and placed it by the door so she'd be ready to go as soon as Xander arrived to pick her up. Leaving Tara for the night was going to be hard enough as it was, she didn't want to make it harder by stalling and dragging it out. But, when Xander finally arrived, that is exactly what Willow found herself doing. Xander unknowingly assisted with this by happily chatting away to Faith and Buffy for nearly two hours, and creating a game for Connor and Dawn who were holding hands under the coffee table, with Dawn occasionally giggling at the fact Xander didn't notice. He was the only Scooby who didn't know the young pair were now a couple, as they didn't think he'd take the news that Lil' Dawnie was dating Angel's son very well, and were waiting until they could tell him at a time and place where violence could hopefully be avoided. Tara had headed upstairs a while ago to put Sophie to bed, so Willow decided to go kiss her daughter goodnight before making another attempt at forcing herself to leave the house. She paused just outside the little girl's door, smiling at what she was seeing and hearing.

"That night your Mommy Willow came to my dorm, and I told her she had to be with the person she loved. Then she said she was" Tara told Sophie, smiling at the memory.

"So that was when you falled in love?" Sophie asked, letting out a small yawn. Tara shook her head.

"No, I was in love with Mommy Willow long before that. But that was the first time I knew that she really loved me back."

"And tomorrow.." Sophie yawned again, trailing off as she drifted into the land of dreams, "Tomorrow, you're gonna gets your happily ever after..."

"Yeah" Tara smiled. She stayed there for a while, stroking her daughter's hair. Willow remained frozen in the doorway, not wanting to ruin this beautiful moment. Eventually, Tara looked up, still smiling. "Hey."

"Hey" Willow smiled back. Tara slid off the bed, careful not to disturb the now sleeping Sophie, and moved over to Willow, wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist.

"You leaving now?"

"Soon" said Willow. "I just wanted to come and kiss Sophie goodnight, but you were having a special bonding moment and I didn't wan't to disturb you." Willow looked at her little girl, sighing sadly. "Tomorrow we won't be here to kiss her goodnight. We're always here to kiss her goodnight Tara, we've never left her before."

"I know. But we're only a phone call away if she needs us, and we'll only be gone for a few days. The others will look after her."

"Willow!" Xander called from downstairs. "We better get a move on, it's late!"

"I'll be down in a minute!" she called back, before returning her attention to Tara, and sighing again. "Since you've been back, I've never left you either. It's hard."

"Well, think of it this way" said Tara, after thinking for a moment. "The next time you see me, I'll be walking down the aisle. The next time you kiss me.." she gave Willow a quick kiss, "I'll be you're wife. And by this time tomorrow, we'll be on our honeymoon." Willow grinned, giving her wife-to-be one last kiss goodbye before heading back downstairs. Yep, that had definitely put things into perspective. This time tomorrow, she'd be married to the love of her life. It didn't get any better than that.

* * *

AN: This arc will not contain any Dawn related magical incidents, but some magical stuff will happen. Stay tuned!


	28. Some Things Never Change

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Later that night, despite knowing that it would have been bad luck to see her before the wedding, Tara began to regret sending Willow away. Because she had never spent a night away from her soulmate since she'd been resurrected, she had forgotten how hard it was to sleep on your own when you weren't used to it. She was used to having a certain Willow-shaped something to snuggle up to, and the absence of this certain Willow-shaped something reminded her of the rather unpleasant period when she had separated from Willow during the other witch's magic addiction. Tara was just beginning to resign herself to the fact that she would have dark circles under her eyes on her wedding day, and thinking of ways that she could cover them with make-up, when Sophie crept into the room.

"Mama Tara?"

"What is it sweetie?" Tara asked, sitting up.

"I knows you miss Mommy Willow" Sophie replied as she climbed onto the bed, clutching Cordy in one hand. "You needs somebody to snuggle with, to help you sleep." She crawled to Tara's side, wrapping her small arms as far around her mother's waist as they could reach. "Is this better?"

"Much better" Tara smiled, laying her head back down on her pillow and pulling the blankets back over herself and Sophie. She may have been a little biased, but in that moment, Tara decided that her daughter had to be the sweetest child in the known universe. She also decided that if nothing Willow-shaped was available for snuggling, something Sophie-shaped was a perfectly suitable replacement.

The next morning, however, Tara was woken by that Sophie-shaped something bouncing on her stomach.

"Wake up Mama Tara, wake up!" she cried. "Its your wedding day, and you gots visitors!" Tara cracked an eye open, fully expecting her 'visitors' to be an overexcited Dawn, or Buffy announcing that she was about to head off to Xander's to help Willow get ready. But when she sat up, and the haze of sleep began to clear from her eyes, Tara's jaw dropped. Standing before her was Cordelia Chase, rebel among the powers that be, her body emanating a soft ethereal glow. Standing around her was the gang of rebel spirits of which Tara had once been a part, and which also included Joyce, Jenny Calendar, Anya, Kendra, Doyle, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn. Tara tried to find words, but none would come.

"Come on, Tara" Cordelia grinned. "Aren't you happy to see us? You better appreciate what I've done for you here girl, you have no idea what crap I went through with the other Powers."

"Yes" Anya piped up. "After Cordelia fought so hard to bring us all here, the very least you could do is say something. So, say something!"

"Uh.. of course I'm happy to see you" Tara finally managed to get out. She pulled Sophie into her lap, using the little girl as a kind of security blanket. "I'm just a little shocked, that's all, since all you guys are supposed to be, you know, dead?"

"Yeah, we know this must be a little surprising for you" said Fred, looking around at the others. "But then again, that's kinda the point, right?" The rest of the group smiled and nodded, all murmuring their agreement.

"Cordelia bringed all your friends from Heaven to surprise you for your wedding" said Sophie, smiling up at her mother. "Isn't that nice of her, Mama Tara?"

"Yeah, it is" said Tara. Now that the shock had begun to wear off, she felt a wide grin spreading across her face. She moved Sophie from her lap and climbed out of bed. "I've missed you guys."

"We missed you too" said Cordelia, moving to wrap the witch in a warm hug. "But, I don't want to see you back up there for at least fifty years. Sixty, if you can swing it." She stepped away from Tara and looked her over, thinking. "Wow, I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to get you ready for this wedding."

"What?" asked Tara, a little confused.

"Well, somebody has to help you, and since Buffy's gonna go racing off to help Willow soon, looks like it has to be me. Do you really want Faith and Dawn handling your hair and make up? I don't think so. You'd end up looking like a cross between a prostitute and one of those kids from the Disney Channel, eugh." Cordy made a face, and Tara laughed. Although she had never met Cordelia as a teenager, she knew about how she acted through the many stories that Willow had told her. _"Some things never change"_ she thought, smiling.


	29. Hair, Make Up, And A Mouse Named Fred

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"I think we'll want to go for a natural look, something that accentuates your eyes" said Cordelia, still looking Tara over. "You have gorgeous eyes."

"I gots Mama Tara's eyes" said Sophie, beaming.

"I know" Cordelia smiled at the little girl, "and they're just as gorgeous on you."

"Do I gets to wear any make-up?" Sophie asked.

"Maybe a little" The former seer replied.

"But no going overboard" Tara added. "You're only young."

"Besides, you won't be needing too much" said Fred, tickling the little girls stomach. "You're absolutely adorable as you are!"

"Stop it, Auntie Fred, stop it!" the little girl giggled. In the space of what appeared to be just half an hour to Tara, the demon-fighting physicist had formed quite a strong connection with her little girl. What Tara didn't know was that Fred, Cordelia, Anya, and occasionally some of the others, had been visiting Sophie in her dreams, as Tara herself had once done before her resurrection to help the little girl find and rescue the demon-napped Willow. It was these visits that had led to Sophie deciding to name her doll Cordy. She also had a blue-eyed teddy bear called Tara Bear that Willow had given her before Tara came back, and a stuffed mouse which she had named Fred, but as neither Willow or Tara were completely sure which gender their daughter considered the mouse to be, they decided that this was probably a coincidence. They may have thought differently if they'd noticed how often the little girl offered the toy tacos when she played tea party. The tickling continued, and Cordelia was just beginning to think about what she should do with Tara's hair, when Buffy entered the room.

"Hey, Tara I'm just about to head off to Xander's to.." the slayer froze in shock before she could finish her sentence, Fred froze mid-tickle, and all except one of Tara's heavenly visitors froze as well. Nobody was surprised who that one was.

"Geez, Buffy, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Anya yelled. "Tara could have been having lots of amazing orgasms!" Fred clapped her hands over Sophie's ears and glared at the former demon.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Buffy cried, breaking her silence.

"Well, I was friends with all these guys when I was dead, and since Cordelia's one of the Powers That Be she brought them all here for the wedding" Tara explained. Buffy nodded, her mind trying to process this information as her gaze drifted over each of the dearly departed occupants of the room, before finally coming to rest on her mother.

"Hi, honey" Joyce smiled. Buffy remained frozen for a second before flying into her mother's open arms, very nearly bowling over both Wesley and Doyle as she did so.

"Oi, watch it!" Doyle yelled.

"I've missed you so much!" Buffy cried, sobbing into Joyce's shoulder.

"I know, honey, I've missed you too" said Joyce, hugging her daughter tightly. "But I was always with you, you and Dawn, always, and I am so proud of you." They stayed in that position for a little while longer, until Buffy reluctantly pulled away.

"I should really go, Willow needs me. Somehow I don't think Xander's qualified to get her ready for the wedding."

"Well what do you know, we actually agree on something" said Cordelia. "Take Joyce with you if you want, you can explain all this, it'll stop Willow freaking out when a bunch of dead people turn up at her wedding."

"I'm going too" said Anya, standing up. "I want to see Xander."

"Fine with me" Buffy smiled. "There's room for two more, who else wants to tag along?" Doyle and Gunn, who had been getting quite bored with all the hair and make up talk, raised their hands. "Okay then guys, let's go. Kendra, you should introduce yourself to Faith later, she's always been a little curious about you." They headed off, and as they made their way out of the house the rest of the group heard a squeal of joy from Dawn, a shout of "Holy shit!" from Faith, then Buffy explaining to her girlfriend that no, the First Evil had not returned. Cordelia turned back to Tara.

"I think we should do your hair up" she said. Tara frowned.

"I like it down, and I think Willow kinda prefers it that way too."

"I know" said Cordelia, grinning devilishly. "It'll make it all the more fun for her when she gets to let it out tonight."


	30. Nothing Too Specific

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Meanwhile, at Xander's apartment, Willow had begun pacing back and forth nervously while Xander munched on a bowl of Cheerios.

"Where's Buffy? She should be here by now!" The wicca cried in panic. "What if she doesn't turn up in time? Then I won't have long enough to get ready, and I'll be late, and Tara will turn up in a beautiful dress ready to walk down the aisle but I won't be at the end of it, and she'll think I've got cold feet and.."

"Willow, chill" said Xander, halting his friend's panicked babble and putting his bowl of cereal aside so he could stand and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Buffy's only a few minutes late, she's probably just giving Faith instructions on how to do Tara's make up right so she doesn't make her look like a prostitute."

"Tara could never look like a prostitute" said Willow, glaring at him. Xander gulped. Nowadays, a Willow-glare was scary. He threw his hands up defensively.

"It wasn't an insult, Will. I just meant you can do a lot with make-up. This one time Anya put on this bright red lipstick and really dark eyeshadow and.. well, I can't go any further without entering the territory of too much information, but you get the point."

"Yeah" Willow sighed. Then her eyes suddenly widened as if she had thought of something terrible. "What if Buffy crashed her car on the way here? 'Cause that's a very real possibility with her you know, or what if demons attacked the house, or Dawn did another spell that made something bad happen, or.." at that moment, the doorbell rang.

"See, Will? You were completely overreacting" Xander smiled as he stood to answer the door. "Everything will be fine. Nothing strange or unexpected is going to happen today.." Xander pulled the door open, letting out a sudden scream as Anya flew at him, a shocked Willow looking on.

"Anya!" Buffy scolded the ex-demon as she entered the apartment. "You were supposed to wait outside until I explained everything!"

"Well excuse me for being a little impatient!" Anya yelled, turning to face the slayer while Xander and Willow were left to wonder what the hell was going on. "I haven't seen Xander in three years, and after today I probably won't see him again until he dies, and that could be over sixty years away! Maybe longer if he stops eating so many Twinkies." She turned to the one-eyed man in question, frowning. "Well? Aren't you happy to see me?" Buffy couldn't help but laugh a little when Xander, along with Willow, remained frozen. Knowing that there was no point in hiding them now thanks to Anya's little display, she poked her head out the door and called Joyce, Gunn, and Doyle inside. Yup, she had a whole lot of explaining to do on this one.

Back at the Summers house, Wesley was catching up with Connor, Jenny was chatting to Dawn, and Kendra had taken up Buffy's suggestion of introducing herself to Faith, which had now lead the two into a discussion comparing their very different approaches to slaying. In Tara's room, Fred was still playing with Sophie, and Cordelia was helping Tara into her dress before they started on her hair and make up.

"There we go" said Cordelia, zipping up the back of the dress before stepping back to take a closer look. The dress was a pure, beautiful white, and had a sparkling silver lining sewn along the hem and neckline. The veil sat on the dresser, ready to be put on later. "Boy, are you gorgeous" Cordy grinned. "Willow's gonna totally flip when she sees you."

"You really think so?" said Tara, blushing.

"Uh-huh" said Sophie, while Fred nodded in agreement. "You look really, really pretty Mama Tara, and you haven't even gots your make up on yet!"

"Speaking of, we better get a move on with that, sit down" Cordelia ordered. Tara obeyed, sitting on the chair in front of the dresser, while Sophie led Fred off to her room to show the physicist her toys. Cordy began brushing Tara's hair, and after a few minutes, Tara decided to ask her friend a question about something that had been bothering her for awhile.

"Cordy, can I ask you something?"

"Depends" Cordelia replied. "There are certain things I'm forbidden to talk to you about as part of my conditions for being allowed to come here. Just ask and I'll see what I can do."

"Well, Sophie drew this picture of me holding a baby a while ago.."

"Ah. Not supposed to say anything too specific about that. But I will tell you this" Cordy grinned, leaning over to whisper in Tara's ear. "You're probably gonna find yourself needing a whole lot of tiny pink outfits in the not too distant future."


	31. Hide!

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

After awhile, Dawn and Faith headed upstairs, deciding that it was about time for them to get dressed and do their own hair and make up, and Connor headed up to get his tux on after remembering that Giles would be there to pick him up soon. As the Destroyer wasn't a part of either bride's half of the wedding party, Giles had offered to take Connor along to the ceremony with him so that he would arrive at the same time as all the other guests, and was leaving Andrew to ensure that the invited potentials, including Vi, Rona, Chao-Ahn and one or two younger ones that needed constant supervision and turned into little hell-beasts whenever Giles was not present, got there on time. Andrew was going to be a fully-fledged Watcher soon, and a Watcher needed to be able to handle slayers in all situations, so Giles thought that the experience would be good for him.

"Don't you guys have to get ready too?" Connor called from the stairs, noticing that their heavenly visitors were only dressed in clothes ranging from casual to semi-formal.

"No" Wesley replied. "Cordelia can have us ready with a snap of her fingers when the time comes."

"Okay then" Connor called back, continuing on up the stairs, and leaving Jenny, Wesley, and Kendra to their own devices. Jenny got up and made them all a cup of tea, which they then sat and sipped in silence. A little while later, the doorbell rang. Jenny, out of reflex, stood to answer it, but Kendra stopped her.

"I don't tink dat it's a good idea for us to be answerin' the door when we're dead to everybody outside of 'dis house."

"Good point" said Jenny, sitting back down. Unfortunately, Buffy had left the door unlocked when she left, and due to the person currently on the other side of it having knowledge of the unsavory things that may possibly have happened to the house's occupants, they did not hesitate to walk straight in.

"Hello?" came Giles' voice. "Anybody there? It's only me, I'm here to pick up Connor."

"Rupert" Jenny gasped, as the group heard the Watcher's footsteps coming closer.

"Hide!" Wesley hissed. Kendra grabbed a slightly stunned Jenny and pulled her behind the couch, while Wesley, after strategically placing a few items to prevent them from causing him serious bodily harm, somehow managed to conceal himself inside Buffy's chest of weapons.

"Hello?" Giles called again, beginning to panic just a little.

"Oh my god, oh my god, don't freak out, don't freak out!" cried Dawn, speeding downstairs as fast as it was possible to go in her purple bridesmaid dress. "I can explain.. where'd they go?"

"Where did who go?" asked Giles, eyes narrowed. "What do you have to explain?"

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Dawn cried defensively. "I didn't do anything!" Giles looked at her skeptically. "I really didn't this time! Apparently Cordelia's one of the Powers that be now, so she brought Mom and Anya and Miss Calendar and all our other dead friends hear for the wedding." Giles felt a lump in his throat.

"Jenny's here?"

"She was a few minutes ago" said Dawn. "But her, Wesley, and Kendra have disappeared for some reason. Where are you, guys?" she called. Jenny chose this moment to slowly poke her head out from behind the couch.

"Hi, Rupert" she smiled.

* * *

AN: I know some of you are hanging out for the wedding, but I wanted a bit of build up. You'll be happy to know that things are going to move along a bit in the next chapter.


	32. The BowTie Of Doom

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"Too tight, can't breathe!" Xander gasped. Once he had gotten over his initial shock, Xander had been very happy to see Anya, and had spent awhile catching up and showing her around his apartment while Buffy had rushed off to get both Willow and herself ready for the wedding. Then he had realised that there was only an hour before they had to leave, and had quickly changed into his tux and asked Anya to tie his bow-tie, a decision which he now found himself regretting.

"I don't know how to loosen it!" Anya cried in panic. "The only other time I've been around a bow-tie is when a woman asked me to strangle her husband with it after he slept with a bridesmaid on their wedding day!"

"Not.. the.. time.. Ahn" Xander choked out, face red and eye bulging in its socket. Anya made another attempt at loosening the bow-tie, but only managed to tighten it further, at which point Joyce wisely decided to intervene, untying the offending garment and saving Xander's life. "Thank you" he gasped.

"You're welcome" Joyce smiled.

"Sorry Xander" Anya whispered.

"Don't worry about it Ahn, it's no big" said Xander, pulling his remorseful ex into a hug. "It wasn't your fault you didn't know how to loosen the bow-tie. Lucky Buffy's Mom was here though, thanks again Mrs Summers." From the other side of the room, Buffy, wearing a dress that matched both Dawn's and the one Faith would be wearing, cleared her throat.

"I present to you the beautiful bride, Miss Willow Rosenberg." Buffy waited for a few moments, but Willow did not emerge. "Uh, just a second, Miss Rosenberg seems to be experiencing one of her famous bouts of stage fright" she poked her head back into the room where she and Willow had been getting ready. "What are you doing, Will? It's time to come out." Mumbles were heard. Buffy sighed. "Nobody's gonna make fun of you. You look gorgeous, and I should know because I had a great deal to do with that." More mumbles. "Okay, that's it Missy, you're coming out of there whether you like it or not." Buffy reached into the room, pulling Willow out with one slayer-strength tug. Willow blushed furiously as all eyes fell on her. Her dress was a lot simpler than Tara's, though no less beautiful. It was a strapless number made of white silk. Willow had chosen to wear her hear down in order to cover the scar on the side of her head which she had received when she'd been kidnapped by the demons who had magically created Sophie and kept the little girl hostage for the first three years of her life. She could have healed the cut then, but instead Willow had decided to keep the scar, seeing it as a badge of honor, and a reminder to the rest of the demon world that she would do anything to protect her daughter, even if she hurt herself in the process.

"Wow, you look amazing Will" Xander smiled. Willow smiled back, still blushing.

"Okay" said Buffy, "are we all agreed that Willow looks amazing?" Anya, Joyce, Doyle, and Gunn all nodded, although Anya muttered under her breath that Willow didn't look as good as she had. "Good, cause we better get moving."

Back at the Summers house, an elated Giles was chatting happily away with Jenny, while Dawn, Connor, and Kendra tried to work out how they were going to get Wesley out of the weapons chest. Tara had childproofed it awhile ago, but as no demons had attacked the house since the animal incident, no-one other than Tara, Buffy and Faith had bothered learning how to open it yet. Luckily, the Dark Slayer chose now to make her re-entrance to the lounge room. She raised an eyebrow at the trio gathered around the chest.

"What are you three doin'?" she asked curiously.

"Wesley locked 'imself inside the weapons chest and we can't get 'im out" Kendra explained. A strange look came over Faith's face, then she burst out laughing.

"Okay, let me through" she gasped between laughs. Faith opened the child-lock and pulled Wesley out, in hysterics the whole time.

* * *

AN: Updates two days in a row, yay me! The first part of the wedding will be in the next chapter.


	33. The Chapter In Which Giles Must Explain

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

A little while later, Giles' car pulled up in front of the hall where Willow and Tara's wedding ceremony was going to be held. He, Connor, and Jenny, who had asked Cordelia for permission to go along with the Watcher (Though she needn't have really asked as Cordy never would have said no), piled out of it. They entered the hall, waving to a nervous looking Willow who was running through her vows with the celebrant with encouragement from Xander and Buffy, and took some seats behind Andrew, Chao-Ahn, and the trio of younger slayers who had been brought along for no other reason than they refused to behave for anyone other than Giles. Vi and Rona had chosen seats on the other side of the hall with Anya to try and keep the numbers even. Doyle was fidgeting around at the back of the room, looking very uncomfortable in the suit that Cordy had psychically changed him into, and Gunn was peeking out the door in case Tara arrived early. Giles began looking around the hall, awaiting the arrival of Spike, Angel, and Illyria, as he had been entrusted with explaining to them the 'Cordelia brought all our dead loved ones here for the wedding' situation.

"This could end really, really, badly you know" said Connor.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"Well, what if my dad has a moment of pure happiness when he sees everyone?"

"Oh" said Giles, cleaning his glasses. Jenny gave a little giggle at the familiar habit. "You raise a good point Connor, I hadn't thought of that. Did anybody bring a stake?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about Angel" said Jenny. "Just try to focus on the negatives of the situation." Giles raised a confused eyebrow.

"What negatives?"

"The fact that we're only here for one day, for one. At least all the rest of you will get to see us again when you die, but Angel may never die." Connor and Giles pondered Jenny's words for a moment, before two familiar figures hidden beneath flaming blankets burst through a side entrance to the hall. The currently Fred-lookalike Illyria burst in after them and began beating out Spike's flames but leaving Angel to save himself, while Gunn and Doyle ducked behind some flower displays, Jenny hid behind her seat, and a quick-thinking Vi threw her jacket over a very annoyed Anya's head.

"And another thing" said Connor, gesturing at Illyria as the God-King beat her pet's flaming skin savagely. "I don't know how we're gonna deal with her when she sees Fred."

"Why, do you think she'll hurt her?" asked Giles who had become a little distracted with trying to obscure the not very well hidden Jenny from view as Angel approached.

"Well no, these days she won't do anything that'll piss off Spike and Angel, but it'll be pretty awkward" said Connor. Giles rolled his eyes.

"I do believe it will, but as it will neither endanger lives or keep the ceremony from running smoothly I think we have much more important things to worry about right now like telling your father.. hello Angel, nice to see you again." Giles quickly moved to conceal Jenny's clearly visible arm. "How have you been?"

"I've had to fight off a few Wolfram & Heart assassins here and there, but otherwise fine. You?"

"Very well, thank you. Now Angel, I think you should sit down as there are some things about today that need to be explained." Angel, looking a little confused, obeyed Giles and sat, but before the Watcher could begin his explanation, Spike walked over with Illyria behind him, and glared at Connor.

"Hear you're gettin' a bit frisky with the Lil'bit boy" he growled, while Giles sighed, annoyed at the interuption, as well as Jenny, whose knees were beginning to get tired from crouching behind the chair, and Anya, who was complaining about looking stupid with a jacket on her head.

"No, nothing frisky" said Connor, Spike's expression making him a little nervous. "Just kissing!" The Destroyer knew that he could probably take his father's grandchilde in a fight in the hopefully unlikely event that it came to that, but Spike could call Illyria for back up, in which case Connor knew he was screwed, so violence was best avoided if possible.

"Okay then" said Spike as he sat down. "But just know that if you ever hurt the bit, I'll bloody well hurt you right back, got it?" Connor nodded. Spike glanced over at Anya, raising an eyebrow. "Who's that bloody ponce with the jacket on their head?"

"I think I can explain that.." Giles began. And so, the Watcher explained what Cordelia had done, allowing Gunn and Doyle to greet an ecstatic, though thankfully not purely happy Angel, Jenny to climb out from behind her seat, and a relieved Anya to finally take the jacket off of her head. Soon the other heavenly guests arrived after being magically sent ahead by Cordelia, and the majority of the Angel Investigations team was happily reunited, but had left one lonely God-King feeling like the ultimate outsider.

Outside the hall, a limo pulled up, and Dawn, Faith, and the gorgeous little flower girl Sophie climbed out of it, closely followed by Tara.

"Do I look okay?" the bride asked, equally nervous and excited.

"Gorgeous T, Red's one lucky girl" Faith grinned. They approached the hall, where Cordelia, having traded her white robe for a golden dress, was waiting.

"Shouldn't you be inside?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah" said Cordy, smiling. "But then I thought, hey, what better blessing for my friend's marriage than to have one of the powers that be walk her down the aisle?" She held out her arm to the blonde. "You ready?"

"Come on, Mama Tara, let's get you and Mommy Willow your happily ever after!" Sophie cried.

"Yeah" Tara smiled, taking Cordy's arm. "Let's go."


	34. The Ceremony

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: Willow and Tara's vows contain heaps of cute canonical references, mostly because I re-watched seasons 4, 5, and early season 6 before I started this arc.

* * *

First Faith entered the hall, then Dawn, and finally, Tara, holding Cordy's arm with Sophie walking a few steps ahead of them, smiling as she scattered flowers down the aisle. Tara didn't notice that Cordelia became slightly distracted with waving to a beaming Angel. She didn't notice that Connor was staring at Dawn while displaying the goofy grin of a boy in love, or that Anya was busy making googly eyes at Xander. She didn't notice that Buffy and Faith were paying more attention to each other than to her. She didn't notice, because she simply didn't care. Tara only had eyes for one person, and that one person only had eyes for her.

As soon as she had seen Tara walking down the aisle towards her, Willow's heart had skipped a beat, and now that her soulmate stood before her, smiling her beautiful lopsided smile from behind her veil, all of the things that Willow had been so worried about just a few minutes before seemed completely insignificant. Today they were finally going to get their happily ever after, just as Sophie had said the night before. They were forever, and soon the whole world would know. The celebrant was speaking now, though neither bride was really paying attention.

"I love you" Willow whispered.

"I love you too" Tara whispered back. Willow was just about to tell Tara how beautiful she looked, when the celebrant cleared his throat, pulling the redhead from her thoughts.

"Willow, your vows."

"Oh, right." Willow blushed, slightly embarrassed at being caught not paying attention. The pair had decided to write their own vows, after realising that most of the traditional ones, particularly the " 'til death do us part" section, did not apply to them. Willow took a deep breath, then began. "Tara, I spent months trying to come up with words to describe the way I feel about you, but eventually I realised there are none. What we have is beyond words. We've been through so much together, more than most people go through in a lifetime, to get where we are. And I've lost you once or twice along the way, but I always find you again, and I promise I always will." Willow smiled across at her lover, both of them a little teary-eyed, and the celebrant nodded before turning to Tara, who nodded back in understanding, taking a few seconds to gather her thoughts before beginning her own vows.

"Willow, I love you so much. Before I met you, I never really knew what love was. I didn't even know who I was, because I'd only ever seen myself through my family's eyes. But when you looked at me, I was pure, and good, and beautiful." Her soulmate's words caused tears to roll down Willow's cheeks, and it was taking all of Willow's self-control to keep herself from ripping off Tara's veil and kissing her right now. "Everything that makes me me is there because of you, Willow. Everything I am is yours."

The room fell silent for a moment, then the celebrant gestured to Xander to hand over the rings. Xander predictably fumbled about in his pockets for a few tense moments before pulling out the rings, a plain gold band for each witch. The celebrant was speaking again as Willow and Tara slipped the rings onto each other's fingers, but once again neither one of them was really paying attention, only catching one or two key words, such as 'vows', 'rings', and of course, 'kiss the bride.' Willow beamed, lifting Tara's veil and pulling her new wife into her arms, kissing her to the cheers of their guests, except Illyria who aside from the fact she was sulking a little at being ignored, didn't really understand the ceremony. Eventually, the need for oxygen forced Willow and Tara to part.

"You're beautiful, Tara" Willow gasped. "God, you are so beautiful, and I won't let anybody make you think anything different ever again." Tara nodded, tears of joy streaming down her face, and pulled Willow into another kiss.

* * *

AN: Aww! Next chap, the reception, which I've actually worked a kind of cute Sophie/Illyria moment into, I don't know why, it just happened.


	35. Hugs Are Nice

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

After the ceremony, Willow and Tara signed their marriage certificate, and then the wedding party had headed outside to get pictures taken before the light faded. There was one minor issue caused by Sophie disappearing amongst everyone else's dresses because she was so small, but this problem was quickly dealt with by Faith deciding to just pick the little girl up, which lead each bridesmaid, Xander, and finally Willow and Tara to take turns holding her in the photos. After the photos had been taken, everybody headed off to the reception, which was being held at a nearby hotel. Cordelia took care of any problems that may have arisen from unexpected guests. Everybody enjoyed the wedding dinner, Willow and Tara had had their first dance, and afterwards everyone else, except Illyria who was sitting out on the balcony brooding, joined them on the dance floor. Sophie, who had been taking turns dancing with everybody, spotted the God-King, and frowned. Illyria was obviously sad. But she shouldn't be sad, because this was supposed to be a happy day. Sophie decided to go talk to her.

"Illyria?" the little girl whispered, stepping out on to the balcony, "Are you okay?" The God-King turned, a little surprised to see Sophie there, but quickly regained her composure.

"My welfare should be of no concern to you child" she said. "Go back inside." Sophie ignored the order and continued, undaunted.

"You look sad."

"I have no need for such an emotion" Illyria growled, finally allowing herself to drop the mask of Fred she had been wearing all day.

"Whats about when Wesley died?" Sophie asked. Illyria froze for a second, taken aback, as she had not expected the child to know that.

"I may have felt sadness in some small capacity" she admitted. "But even so, any feelings of mine are not important to the half-breeds." Illyria glared at the little girl with cold blue eyes. "You are no different. None of these humans are. All I will ever be to them is the parasite who took their precious Winifred Burkle."

"I loves Auntie Fred" said Sophie, "But I likes you too, Illyria. We had lots of fun when Uncle Xander teached us the Snoopy dance, remember?"

"The experience was not entirely unpleasant."

"We could be friends, if you wants" Sophie continued.

"Friends?" Illyria considered this for a moment. Not so long ago, she would have openly scoffed at any offer of friendship from a human child. Then again, she thought, this child was a little more than human. There was power there, though neither the girl or her parents had fully realised it yet. "Alright" Illyria crouched to meet the little girl's height, extending her hand for the child to shake, as she had often seen Spike and Angel do when making an agreement. "We will be friends."

"Silly Illyria!" Sophie giggled, wrapping her arms around the God-King's waist. Illyria stiffened, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"What are you doing child?"

"I'm giving you a hug" Sophie replied. "Haven't you ever gots a hug before?"

"No."

"Before my Mommy Willow founded me, I never gots any hugs either. They feels nice, don't they?"

"Yes" said Illyria quietly, mirroring Sophie's actions and wrapping her arms around the little girl. "It feels nice."

A little while later, on the dance floor, Willow managed to pull her gaze away from Tara long enough to have a quick look around at her friends. She smiled. Everybody seemed happy now. Sophie had even managed to get the sulking Illyria to come back inside, calming down Spike who had panicked when he realised the God-King was missing, worried that the Senior partners had made a move. But, as Fred and Wesley danced by, one thing Willow saw confused her a little.

"Are they wearing wedding rings?"

"Uh-huh" Tara replied. Willow looked even more confused.

"But they never.."

"They're kind of like the heavenly equivalent of wedding rings" Tara explained. "There's this kind of soul-joining ceremony you can do if your soulmate dies before you're married. We would have had one if Buffy'd never.." Willow put a finger to Tara's lips, silencing her.

"Hey, we don't talk about that kind of what if anymore, remember?"

"Yeah" Tara smiled.

"Good" said Willow, pulling her wife into a kiss. The pair remained that way for awhile. Faith glanced over at them, raising a surprised eyebrow.

"Uh, B?"

"What, baby?" Buffy asked.

"Should we tell Red and Blondie that they're floatin' three inches off the floor?"

"Nah" said Buffy, smiling over at her newlywed friends. "Let 'em float."

* * *

AN: Aww! Here's a summary of the next arc: Willow heads off with Buffy to deal with an apocalypse on the other side of the country. While they're gone, Tara discovers a spell that Dawn did a week before has lead to some unexpected but happy consequences for herself and Willow.


	36. Babies On The Brain

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

She had gone soft. There was no other way to describe it. No other possible way to explain why she, Faith Lehane, the Dark Slayer, had spent the last three days playing tea party and watching all of the Disney princess movies in a continuous marathon. It was Sophie's fault, the kid had her wrapped around her little finger. Hell, she had everyone wrapped around her little finger, even Illyria, though no-one had any idea how she'd pulled that off. Now, with her parents off on their honeymoon, Sophie had latched tightly on to Faith, her next favourite family member. And even though she was currently stuck watching The Little Mermaid for the fifth time, The Dark Slayer wouldn't have had it any other way. About halfway through this fifth viewing, a familiar lopsided smile spread over Sophie's face and she leapt to her feet, bolting to the door.

"What's up, Little Red?" Faith called, chasing after her.

"My Mommies are home!" Sophie called back, racing outside. And sure enough, when Faith looked, Willow and Tara's car was in the driveway and the newlywed witch's were climbing out of it. Willow's eyes lit up when she saw her daughter, and she happily scooped the little girl into her arms. Tara embraced them both, leaning down to place a kiss on Sophie's forehead. Faith gave a small smile as she stood in the doorframe, watching the little family that, in her opinion, now lay at the heart of the Scooby gang. Her smile widened when she registered the fact that now she wouldn't have to sit through the rest of the movie.

In the weeks that followed, Willow and Tara quickly settled into a state of wedded bliss. Their happiness was contagious, even causing Dawn, who had been sulking around the house missing Connor who'd decided to stay with Angel for a few weeks since Wolfram & Heart was laying low, to perk up. But Tara was beginning to develop one little problem. She had babies on the brain. She had begun stopping in the streets to coo at babies in their prams. The sight of tiny baby clothes, especially the pink ones that Cordelia had predicted she'd be needing, caused her to collapse into a pile of maternal mush. Tara imagined Willow's hand resting on her swollen belly, or her own hand resting on Willow's. It didn't matter which one of them was pregnant, it would be amazing either way. She imagined Willow carrying a baby around the house, playing peek-a-boo and making funny faces. Willow was an amazing mother. Her maternal instincts regarding Sophie had kicked in long before she knew the little girl was her daughter. And Sophie would be a great big sister, Tara just knew she would. They'd missed all of the baby stuff with Sophie, meaning they'd missed a lot of firsts, which she knew Willow was always feeling guilty about. Tara knew that a new baby could never make up for that, but it would still be nice to experience it, and seeing Sophie play big sister might make Willow feel a little less guilty. She hadn't brought any of this up with her wife yet though. They had only just got married, and she didn't want Willow to feel like she was being pushed into anything that she wasn't ready for, even though deep down she very much doubted that that would be a problem.

Tara had sat thinking about this one night when Sophie crawled into her lap, seeming to know exactly what she was thinking.

"She's coming soon, Mama Tara" the little girl whispered, once again smiling their shared lopsided smile. "Very, very soon."


	37. A Very Special Spell

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

It was afternoon in the Summers household, and Willow and Tara were cuddled up together on the couch, watching a movie with Sophie. Neither of them were really paying attention to the movie, seeing it more as an opportunity for snuggle time. Suddenly, Faith walked into the room, scooping Sophie into her arms and heading for the door.

"Hey Red, Blondie, I'm just borrowin' your kid for awhile."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there a second Missy" said Willow, catching hold of Faith's sleeve as she passed. "Not that I don't trust you to take care of her or anything, 'cause nowadays I do, like the whole using your jailbreak as a bedtime story, so over it since I kinda realised how much worse stuff could happen, but where are you taking her?"

"Buffy's draggin' me off to a shoe sale at the mall" Faith explained. "Havin' Little Red there will give me an excuse to bail, I can take her to the toy store or somethin', maybe go for ice-cream."

"You want to use my daughter to ditch Buffy at the mall?" cried Willow, horrified.

"Don't go all high 'n mighty on me with this one Red, you've done it too."

"That was different, I was going to look at engagement rings for Tara" said Willow. "I'd never use Sophie just to.." Before this argument could become too heated, Tara decided to intervene.

"Okay guys, easy way to solve this" she turned to her daughter, who had remained silent throughout the disagreement. "Sophie, do you want to go to the mall with Auntie Faith?"

"Uh-huh" Sophie replied.

"Great!" Faith grinned, turning back towards the door. "See ya later!"

"But.." Willow began, before Tara stopped her.

"Will, if Sophie wants to go I don't really see that there's anything wrong with it" Tara paused, thinking for a moment. "But if Xander ever wants to use her to pick up girls again, we'll have a problem."

Meanwhile, Dawn sat on the back porch, sighing as she hung up the phone after speaking to Connor. It surprised her how much she missed him, as he hadn't really been gone for very long. She smiled as she remembered the look of shock on Xander's face when he had caught them kissing at Willow and Tara's wedding. He had experienced a minor freak out, but when he calmed down he had given the pair his blessing, saying that at least Connor was (technically) human. Dawn suddenly heard a tiny thump sound, and, spotting an object that had not previously been present in the garden, ran towards it. It was a little bird, fallen from the sky, dead.

"Poor little thing" Dawn sighed. Then, she had an idea. She'd found a spell awhile ago that had something to do with creating new life. Maybe she could use it to save the little bird. But first she would have to reach her hidden stash of magical supplies. Dawn slipped on a gardening glove, scooped up the little bird, then crept inside and peeked into the lounge room. With Sophie gone, Willow and Tara's snuggle time had quickly evolved into some serious smoochie time. Before long the couple headed upstairs, and Dawn crept into the room, opened Buffy's chest of weapons, dug around until she found the secret compartment she'd put into it, and pulled out her supplies. Then she set up everything she needed and began to recite the spell from memory. Magic swirled around Dawn, the bird, and, unnoticed by either they or Dawn, the wiccan couple making love upstairs. Eventually the magic stopped, and Dawn frowned. The bird was still unmistakeably dead.

"Wow" Tara gasped, breathless.

"You sound a little surprised baby" Willow grinned, snuggling into Tara's side. "Isn't it always wow?"

"Yeah, but that felt different somehow. A good different, though. Special."

"Maybe it's because this is our first time at home since we got married."

"Maybe" said Tara, though she was not entirely sure that that was the reason. A few seconds went by before Willow frowned, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Do you feel that?" She asked, referring to the distinct after effects of magic in the air. Tara nodded, and it didn't take the witch's long to come to a conclusion.

"Dawn."

The pair quickly dressed and went downstairs, finding Dawn cleaning up after her seemingly failed spell.

"Dawnie" Tara scolded.

"I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do any magic" said Dawn, a little grumpy. "But it doesn't matter, the stupid spell didn't work anyway."

"That's exactly what you said the time you shrank us" said Willow, sounding skeptical. She and Tara searched the house for any sign of magical misadventure, but found nothing, and eventually had to accept Dawn's theory that the spell hadn't worked. What they didn't know was that the spell had worked, in a way none of them ever expected...


	38. Same Stars

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"I don't wanna go" Willow pouted, hugging Tara tight.

"I don't want you to go either baby, but the fate of the world depends on you" said Tara, placing a kiss on her wife's forehead. A week had passed since Dawn's seemingly failed spell, and in that time an apocalypse had begun brewing on the other side of the country, which like all apocalypses, needed to be swiftly dealt with before it stuck, so Buffy, Willow, Xander and Dawn were taking a little road trip, leaving Faith behind to take care of any problems in Cleveland.

"Actually, the fate of the world depends on Buffy" Willow corrected.

"But she'll need you for magic" said Tara.

"I know" Willow sighed. "But I could barely handle one night away from you before the wedding. This time I don't even know how long I'll be gone."

"It won't be that bad, baby. I'll call you everyday, I promise."

"Twice a day" said Willow, pausing for a second. "No, three times."

"Okay, I'll call you three times a day" Tara smiled, pulling her wife into a kiss.

"Willow!" a slightly annoyed and impatient Buffy called from outside, "Hurry up, or I'm driving!"

"Just a minute!" Willow called back, reluctantly pulling away from Tara before crouching in front of Sophie and pulling the little girl into a tight hug. "Bye sweetie, I'm gonna miss you and your Mama Tara so much."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Mommy Willow" said Sophie. Then, she had an idea. "Wait here!" Sophie ran up the stairs, returning a few minutes later clutching a blue-eyed teddy bear with golden fur and holding it out towards Willow. "Take Tara Bear with you so you gots somebody to cuddle." Willow tried to fight back tears as she hugged her daughter goodbye. If Sophie wasn't the sweetest kid on the planet, it would be a whole lot easier to leave.

"Thank you, sweetie, that'll be nice." Willow stood and gave Tara one last kiss goodbye.

"Willow!"

"Coming Buff!" Willow called back, heading for the door. "Oh, and you better take good care of my girls, Faith."

"You know I will, Red" Faith grinned. "There's no way I'm gonna risk pissin' you off."

The next night, in a Watcher-run hotel on the other side of the country Willow tossed and turned in her sleep, dreaming unpleasant dreams.

_"Your shirt.."_

_"Tara?!"_

Willow sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. She hadn't had that dream in ages, not since before Tara came back.

"It's just a dream" she told herself as she lay back down. "It was just a dream, Tara's fine, I spoke to her a few hours ago, she's fine.." Part of her, the slightly irrational, overprotective part, wanted to call Tara right now and check that she was okay. The other, more rational part of her knew that her wife was probably asleep, and therefore might not answer even if Willow did call. The wicca sighed sadly, hugging Tara Bear close to her chest. She knew she wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight. Nightmares, just another thing to add to the long list of reasons she hated being away from Tara.

Back home, Tara wasn't having much luck sleeping either, due to the uncomfortable twinge she always got when Willow was upset. She had just begun to drift off, when..

"Aaahhhh!"

"Sophie!" Tara cried, leaping out of bed and rushing to her daughter's room, where she found the little girl sobbing as she tightly clutched her doll, her eyes streaming with tears. "Sophie, what's wrong sweetie?"

"I had the dream where the bad man shooted you" the little girl sobbed.

"Well, it's okay now" said Tara, sitting on the bed and pulling Sophie into her arms. "I'm fine, see?"

"Mommy Willow had the dream too."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh" Sophie replied. "I only gets that dream if Mommy Willow does." Tara frowned, once again wishing that Sophie couldn't share dreams, or that she could only share happy ones. As it was now, it seemed like she only shared nightmares most of the time. Then Tara thought of her wife. If she knew Willow, and she did, she knew that the redhead wouldn't be able to sleep after a nightmare like that. Not without a large dose of Tara-snuggles anyway, although that unfortunately wasn't an option right now, so they'd just have to settle for the next best thing. She scooped Sophie into her arms and made her way downstairs.

"Come on, baby-girl, let's go call Mommy Willow."

Meanwhile, Willow was trying desperately to block her dream out of her mind and maybe, just maybe, go back to sleep, when her cellphone started to ring. She reached over with her free hand and grabbed it from the bedside table, her other arm still tightly wrapped around Tara Bear.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, baby" _came Tara's voice through the phone.

"Hey" Willow replied, beaming. "God, you don't know how much I needed to hear your voice right now."

_"Oh, I had a fare idea." _Willow could almost see her wife's beautiful lopsided smile. She could almost see it disappear with her next sentence too. _"Sophie had a nightmare, she said it was yours. The one about me getting shot."_

"I hate it when she does that. Is she okay?"

_"She is now, she's starting to fall back to sleep. What about you?"_

"I can't sleep" Willow replied. "You're so far away from me, I'm so far away from you. Too far away. Its hard." There was silence from the other end of the line, and Willow knew that Tara was thinking.

_"Can you get outside, Will?" _She asked eventually.

"Um, yeah" said Willow, a little confused. "My room has a balcony. But why.."

_"Just go outside" _said Tara. _"Trust me."_

"Okay" replied a puzzled Willow as she climbed out of bed and walked out onto the balcony. She still clutched Tara Bear in one hand, reluctant to let go of it. "I'm outside, now what?"

_"Look up" _Tara instructed. _"Can you see the big pineapple?"_

"Yeah" Willow grinned.

_"Well, I can see it too. Does that make you feel better?_

"A little. But can we keep talking for awhile anyway?"

_"As long as you want, baby. I'm yours."_

AN: Aww. The next chapter will reveal what Dawn's spell did, so keep reading.

* * *


	39. A Magical Miracle

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Tara decided to let Sophie sleep in her bed for the rest of the night, as a comfort to both the little girl and herself. When the two of them came downstairs the next morning, they found Faith already awake.

"Here you go, Blondie" said Faith, pushing a freshly brewed cup of coffee towards Tara as she and Sophie took their seats at the kitchen table. "The best way to start the day." Tara was struck with a sudden and unexpected rush of nausea.

"Um, is it just me, or does that coffee smell really strong?"

"No stronger than usual. Are you okay Tara? You're lookin' a little pale there" Faith replied, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine, just a little woozy." Suddenly, Tara felt a strong need to throw up. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine." The blonde wicca leapt to her feet and rushed upstairs to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth.

Tara was fine for the rest of the day, but the nausea came again the next morning, and the one after that. On the fourth day that this occurred, Faith followed Tara into the bathroom, holding her friend's hair out of her face as she retched into the toilet bowl.

"You know Blondie, if I didn't know any better I'd say that you were knocked up."

"What does knockeded up mean?" asked Sophie, who had crept into the doorway.

"It means pregnant" The Dark Slayer replied.

"Oh. Then she is."

"What?!" Tara cried, her head jerking up so fast that Faith accidentally tore out a handful of her hair.

"Sorry" said Faith, wincing. She then turned to Sophie, crouching to meet the little girl's eye level. "Look Little Red, you're too young for the full birds and bees talk so I'll just give ya a snippet. Girls can't make other girls pregnant."

"They can with magic" said Sophie. Faith turned to Tara, puzzled.

"Did you and Red.."

"No" said Tara, as she got to her feet.

"Auntie Dawn did it" said Sophie. "She did a spell to create new lifes but she didn't thinks it worked, but it did. It maked Mommy Willow and Mama Tara make a baby."

"That Pipsqueak and her damn spells" Faith grinned. "Guess we'll all have to start preparin' for the pitter-patter of tiny feet around here, hey Blondie?" The Dark Slayer turned to Tara. Tara's heart was beating a mile a minute. She wanted this to be real, she wanted it so bad. She wanted her little family to have another member. She wanted to experience all the things that she and Willow had missed out on with Sophie. She let a hand rest on her stomach. Tara wanted it to be real, but at the same time, she didn't want to get her hopes up too high and be disappointed.

"I-I'll make an appointment with the d-doctor, just to be s-sure" said Tara, stuttering for the first time in she couldn't remember how long.

"Whatever you say, T" Faith shrugged. "But Sophie's never been wrong on this stuff before."

So the next day, Tara headed off to the doctor to confirm her little magical miracle. When she returned, Sophie and Faith were playing tea-party.

"What's the verdict?" Faith asked, looking up as the blonde entered the room. "We need to start baby-proofin'?" Tara could only nod, a lopsided smile spreading over her face as she laid a hand on her stomach, where she now knew a baby was beginning to grow.

"I tolds you, Mama Tara!" Sophie cried, running and throwing her arms around her mother's leg. "I tolds you my baby sister was coming soon!"


	40. We're Having A Baby!

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Tara smiled, scooping her daughter into her arms while she tried to hold back the happy tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"How did you know?" she whispered.

"Cordelia telled me in a dream, and I knowed the baby was there as soon as it happened, I could feels it" Sophie replied. "But Cordy said I wasn't 'sposed to tell you that you was pregnant until somebody else worked it out."

"And that would be me" Faith grinned. "So, you gonna tell Red next time you call her?" Tara shook her head.

"No, I'll wait 'til she gets back. This is the type of thing I should tell her face to face." Tara sat down beside Faith and settled Sophie on her knee, smiling as she turned to the still grinning Dark Slayer. "You seem pretty excited about this."

"I like kids" Faith shrugged. "And I'm actually pretty good with 'em most of the time. I love Little Red, and even though I know it never really happened, I remember gettin' along well with Dawn before I went rogue. So if this kid" she rubbed Tara's stomach, "turns out anything like this kid," She tickled Sophie, making the little girl giggle, "then I say bring it on!"

The next few days passed agonisingly slowly for Tara. Each time she spoke to Willow, it became harder and harder to keep their baby news a secret. Thankfully, thinking about the baby became a welcome distraction for the blonde. There was so much that needed to be done before the baby arrived, especially in a demon fighting household, and even though she knew that it was really way too early to be thinking about any of that, it kept her mind off of how much she was missing her wife, so she fully embraced it. She had already chosen which of the house's remaining spare rooms would make the best nursery, and had already begun thinking about whether they should paint it the traditional powder-pink or choose another colour. She had gone out and bought a great assortment of pregnancy and baby books and was slowly working her way through them, reading each one from cover to cover. But she still ached for Willow. Tara missed her wife just as much as she knew Willow missed her. In a perfect world, Willow would have been with her when she found out she was pregnant, they would have celebrated together, and Tara wouldn't have had to bite her tongue to keep herself from blurting it out over the phone. But it wasn't a perfect world, and all she could do was wait.

Finally, there came a phone call from Buffy to say that the apocalypse had once again been sucessfully averted, and she and the others were on their way home. Tara's insides did a little happy dance. She had already planned how she was going to reveal her pregnancy to Willow, and she was practically bursting with excitement. So, when the doorbell rang on the night that the gang was due home, Faith let Tara answer it, even though she was just as anxious to see Buffy as Tara was to see Willow.

"Go get it, Blondie" Faith smiled. "Tell your girl the good news." Tara beamed, leaping off of the couch and rushing to open the door. As soon as she did she found herself jumped by a certain redhead, who kissed her fiercely.

"Hey" said Willow breathlessly after they broke apart, brushing a few loose hairs behind Tara's ear. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course" Tara smiled. The pair moved aside a little to let Buffy, Xander, and Dawn inside, but didn't pay them much attention, being too caught up in each other. "Come upstairs, I have a surprise for you."

"Um, are you sure that now is the best time?" Willow asked, raising an eybrow. "We should at least wait until.." Tara slapped Willow's arm playfully.

"Cheeky! Not that kind of surprise. Now come on." Tara pulled her now slightly confused wife upstairs, and into their bedroom. She began rummaging around in the closet while Willow sat on the bed, eventually locating a small parcel and handing it to the redhead. Willow became even more puzzled when she unwrapped the parcel to find a pair of tiny pink baby booties.

"I uh, don't think these are gonna fit me sweetie."

"They're not for you" Tara grinned. Willow was so cute when she was confused.

"They're not gonna fit Sophie either" said Willow.

"They're not for Sophie. They're for your surprise." Tara sat beside Willow on the bed, taking her wife's hands in her own. "Remember when we caught Dawn doing that spell, the one to create new life?"

"Yeah" said Willow, still not at all getting where her wife was going with this. "But it didn't work."

"Actually, it did, just not the way Dawn thought it would" Tara smiled, laying Willow's hand on her stomach to put greater emphasis on her next words. "It made us make a baby. I'm pregnant, Will." Willow remained silent for a moment, just staring at the place where Tara had laid her hand. Then her eyes lit up, and a smile spread over face.

"We're having a baby?" she whispered. Tara nodded, causing Willow's smile to grow wider. "Oh my god, we're having a baby!" Willow pulled Tara into a kiss, then lifted her wife's shirt a little, kissing her stomach. "Hi baby, I'm your Mommy Willow! Oh wow, I can't believe we did this! Have you told Sophie yet?"

"Actually, she told me" Tara smiled. Willow gave a small laugh.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because nothing Sophie does surprises us anymore. She's a little miracle."

"And now we're going to have two" Willow grinned, kissing Tara again.

* * *

AN: Next arc: Dawn stupidly attempts to rewind time when she misses a date with Connor, causing Buffy, Faith, Willow, Tara, and Sophie to be randomly jerked about through time, which results in some interesting and sometimes emotional encounters.


	41. The Calm Before The Chaos

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This arc will probably be the last, but don't worry, I already have another sequel planned. Some of the chapters in this arc are my favourite that I've written, so I hope you enjoy them.

* * *

Three months went by. Connor returned from L.A, greeted by a ecstatic Dawn. Willow and Tara began making more plans for the baby's arrival, and Sophie celebrated her fourth birthday, her first with her family. Neither one of her parents knew Sophie's real birthday, and neither did Sophie herself, so after some consideration they had settled on the day that a nameless, homeless, frightened little girl with flaming red hair and wide blue eyes had crashed into Willow's leg while fleeing from demons a year ago. Willow and Tara had pulled out all the stops for their daughter's birthday party, wanting the day to be memorable enough to make up for missing her first three birthdays, a sentiment which had been shared by all Scoobies and Scooby allies. Illyria even sent a card which had read: _Sophie, I hope you find the celebration of the day of your birth enjoyable. Signed, your friend Illyria, God-King of the primordium. _A week later, the Scoobies celebrated Willow's birthday, a double celebration, as it also happened to be the anniversary of Tara's resurrection. From Buffy and Faith's perspective however, the day was a triple celebration, as it also marked the first anniversary of their relationship. The anniversary held special significance for Faith as it was the longest relationship she'd ever had. And for the first time in her life, it didn't scare her at all.

One perfect Cleveland morning, Tara lay propped up on one elbow, watching Willow sleep. She had been watching her wife for an hour. She loved watching her sleep, and was reluctant to wake her up, but it had to be done. They had something very important to do today, after all. She would have let her wife sleep in a little longer while she got ready herself, but Willow's arms locked tightly around her waist made moving near impossible.

"Willow" she said quietly. There was no response. "Wil-low" she repeated in a sing-song voice, smiling. Willow shifted, frowning slightly, but still did not wake. Tara leaned down, placing a kiss on her wife's forehead, nose, and finally, lips. Willow stirred now, and Tara smiled. Willow pouted.

"No fair! You know I can't resist smoochies!"

"You have to get up, Will. We've got an ultrasound appointment today, remember? Don't you want to see the baby?"

"Of course I do!" cried Willow, her eyes lighting up. She leapt out of bed and searched around for some clothes, while Tara moved over to the dresser and began brushing her hair. When Willow had dressed, she walked up behind her wife, wrapping her arms around her waist. "You're starting to show a little now" she smiled, laying a hand on the tiny baby bump that was so far noticeable to only her.

"Yep, it begins" Tara sighed dramatically, though she was grinning on the inside. "Soon I'll blow up like a balloon."

"Maybe, but you'll be the world's most beautiful balloon" said Willow, kissing Tara's cheek.

A little while later, Willow and Tara sat in their local OB/GYN's waiting room, waiting for their appointment. One or two people gave them strange, sometimes dirty looks, but they ignored them. They had nothing to be ashamed of, they were no different than any other expectant parents. Eventually, they were called into the doctor's office.

"This'll feel a little bit cold" the doctor smiled, squirting some gel onto Tara's stomach. He then turned on the monitor and began searching around a bit. "There we go" he said eventually, pointing at the monitor. "There's your baby, see?"

"Wow" said Willow, gazing in awe at the image of the tiny humanoid figure on the screen. "We did that"she whispered to her soulmate, quiet enough that the doctor couldn't hear. Tara smiled, giving her wife's hand a squeeze.

Later, as the pair left the doctor's office, Willow stared at the small print-out she clutched tightly in her hand, unable to tear her eyes away from it.

"That's our baby, Tara" she smiled, wrapping her free arm around her lover's waist. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Yeah, she is" Tara smiled back.

"And now we're sure she's a she! I mean, I know we were pretty sure before because Sophie told us and Cordelia told her but now we're really really sure. And we heard her heartbeat, and she waved her little arm, and she's perfect and oh I love her so much even though she hasn't even been born yet.." Willow's babble was cut off when Tara pulled her into into a kiss as they reached their car.

"I love her too, Will" Tara grinned. "Now let's go home and let her big sister see her." Little did they know of the chaos they would find when they got there...


	42. Sometimes

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

After the whole 'spell that made Willow get Tara pregnant' incident, Dawn had decided to lay off the magic for a while. Willow and Tara were happy, but if that spell had backfired on anyone else, say, Buffy and Faith, they would have been pissed, at least for a little while. Dawn had a feeling it probably wouldn't have taken them long to get used to the idea. Still, probably best to lay low on the magical front. And with Connor back from L.A, she hadn't even been thinking about spells that much. Until today, that is..

Dawn had been preparing to go out to lunch with Connor, and they were just about to leave when Buffy stopped her.

"Hang on there, Dawnie. It's your turn to do the dishes."

"I'll do them when I get back, I promise" said Dawn, attempting to rush out the door before any further protests from her sister. Buffy grabbed her arm.

"I'm not falling for that again. Half the time Willow or Tara end up doing them for you. You can't keep letting them pick up the slack for you Dawn, you know how busy they're going to be when the baby comes."

"The baby's not coming for another six months!"

"That's not an excuse" said Buffy, crossing her arms.

"I know it isn't but.."

"No buts, Dawn" said Buffy, pointing towards the kitchen. "You're not leaving until those dishes are clean." Seeing the look on her sister's face, Dawn sighed in defeat, and turned to Connor.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay" Connor planted a kiss on his girlfriend's cheek, then headed for the door. "See ya there."

So, Dawn headed into the kitchen and turned on the tap, waiting for the sink to fill with warm water. But, as Faith had just got out of the shower a few minutes before, the water was taking a while to heat up, and Dawn was quickly growing impatient. She wanted to get to Connor as quickly as possible. _"One little spell couldn't hurt" _she thought. _"Just to make the water heat up faster." _So, Dawn muttered the spell under her breath. Unfortunately, the water heated up too quickly, causing the pipes to burst, and the kitchen quickly began to flood.

"Crap" Dawn muttered.

"Dawn, what the hell did you do?!" Buffy yelled, running in to investigate.

"What happened, what happened?" cried Sophie. She ran into the kitchen after the blonde slayer, but slipped in the quickly growing pool of water, and bumped her head on the kitchen bench. So, when Willow and Tara arrived home from the doctor, they were met with the familiar sound of Buffy screaming at Dawn, and then the sight of Faith nursing their daughter on her lap while pressing an ice-pack to her forehead, the little girl's face stained with tears.

"Oh my God, what happened?" cried Willow, rushing over and taking Sophie from Faith's lap, with Tara close behind.

"The Pipsqueak pretty much blew up the water pipes with a spell" Faith explained. "Little Red went runnin' into the kitchen after B to see what happened, and she slipped and hit her head."

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Willow asked her daughter, still holding the ice-pack where Faith had indicated. Sophie shook her head.

"It hurts" she whimpered.

"Here, let me take a look" said Tara, taking Sophie from the redhead's arms. She gently moved the ice-pack to get a closer look at her little girl's injury. "Oh, it's just a little bump" she smiled, kissing it. "It'll get better in no time. I've had much worse ones than that before."

"From your daddy?" Sophie asked quietly. Tara's smile quickly faded. She'd never be able to hide her past abuse from her daughter due to their frequent shared nightmares.

"Sometimes" she whispered.


	43. Step Back In Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Sophie cheered up a little when Willow showed her the ultrasound photo of her unborn baby sister.

"She's going to beautiful baby" she smiled, nestled snugly on the couch between her mothers. The little girl paused, thinking for a moment. "I wonder if I was a beautiful baby.."

"I'm sure you were sweetie" said Willow, trying to hold back the tears that began to prick at the corners of her eyes. "I wish we could have seen you." Tara nodded, sharing her wife's sentiment. Suddenly, the two wiccas felt a familiar magical tingle in the air, and groaned.

"What's up?" asked Faith, as her friends got off the couch.

"Dawn's not doing magic again is she?" Buffy growled. Willow nodded, tucking the ultrasound picture into her pocket as she, Tara, Buffy, and Faith headed upstairs in an attempt to stop the former Key before further magic-induced chaos could ensue. Sophie crept along behind them to see what happened.

A little while before, Dawn had marched into her bedroom, scowling. She'd never make her date with Connor now, and he didn't have a cellphone, so she couldn't even call him and tell him what had happened. There was only one way to fix this problem. She was going to rewind time, and be more patient with the water. She'd wash the dishes, then head off to join Connor for lunch. To everybody else, this whole incident would never have happened. Dawn pulled out a spellbook that she had stolen from Willow's collection a while ago, then dug out her secret stash of magic supplies, which she had re-stocked and moved into her room after Buffy had discovered it in the weapons chest. Not long after she began the spell, which was a quite complicated ritual, she heard Buffy beating on her locked door. She knew it was Buffy because the wood splintered a little.

"Dawn, whatever the hell you're doing in there you better stop it right now!" the Slayer yelled.

"No!" Dawn yelled back. "When I'm done it won't matter anyway because it will never have happened!"

"You better not be doing what it sounds like you're doing, Dawnie" Tara warned. "Time travel's really really dangerous. There's no way of telling what will happen, only the most powerful witches can control it."

"Yeah" Willow added. "Even when I was at my worst, I never thought of messing around with time." Dawn ignored the warnings of her one-time surrogate parents and continued with her ritual.

"That's it, we're bustin' in there!" Faith yelled, raising her foot to the door. The door fell in, just as Dawn was completing her spell. She winced, waiting for the inevitable scolding from Buffy. But the scolding didn't come. Dawn looked up, and gasped. The others were gone.

"Uh, guys?" she called, beginning to panic a little. "If you're all hiding to teach me a lesson about time travel, I totally get it. I was an idiot. So you can come out now, right?" There was no response. "Buffy? Faith? Come on you guys, this really isn't funny. Where are you?!" Dawn searched the whole house for any sign of her missing sister and friends, but found nothing. No Buffy. No Faith. No Willow. No Tara. No Sophie. No anyone. They were all gone. Dawn groaned, her head in her hands. "Crap, crap, crap" she said to herself. "This has without a doubt got to be the stupidest thing I have ever done."

Once Willow had gotten over the unusual sensation of being jerked through time, she began to survey her surroundings. She was in a cave of some sort, a cave that seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. She called to Tara, then Sophie, but there was no reply. Dawn's spell must have separated them all, scattering them through time. She wasn't too worried about Buffy and Faith, they could handle themselves, but she hoped her girls were okay. _"All three of them" _she thought, fingering the edge of the picture of her unborn daughter that rested in her pocket. As Willow walked further into the cave, she began to hear a strange noise. Feeling strangely drawn to it, she quickened her pace, wanting to investigate.

* * *

AN: Ooh, what's Willow gonna find? The time periods that they end up in will crossover a bit later in the arc, but for the next couple of chapters they'll mostly remain separate.


	44. A Mother's Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: Some parts of this chapter may be a little hard to understand if you haven't read 'Willow's Child', but I think most of you have.

* * *

Willow looked around as she walked, frowning. This place seemed so familiar to her. Where was she? Although, thanks to Dawn's spell, _when _was she was probably the more appropriate question. As she walked further into the cave, Willow realised that the strange sound was a newborn baby crying. She hadn't recognised it before due to the fact that the tiny voice sounded more cracked and strained than a voice that age should ever be. She turned the corner and gasped, quickly ducking out of sight. Willow knew exactly where she was now, having found herself chained to the wall here a year ago. Two demons with blue skin and yellow horns were having a heated conversation. A badly built object only just recognisable as a crib sat off to one side, while the baby that lay inside it continued to wail.

"What does the damn thing want?" One demon growled. "We fed it, it's diaper's clean, so why the hell is it still crying?"

"It's a baby" said the other demon. "Babies cry. Don't worry, it's sure to wear itself out eventually."

"And drive us all to madness in the meantime. That noisy brat has been nothing but trouble since we created it!"

"But remember, it will all be worth it once we get the witch's magic. Then we will be unstoppable!" The demon laughed, sending chills down Willow's spine, and the baby began to cry louder. After awhile, the demons moved into another chamber of the cave. The baby was still screaming. When Willow was sure the demons were gone, she crept over to the crib, a lump forming in her throat. The baby was tiny, no more than a week old, and had a tuft of soft red hair the same shade as Willow's. Willow gently scooped the infant into her arms, whispering words of comfort.

"Shh, it's okay baby, it's okay." Little by little, the baby began to calm down, it's wails eventually fading into soft whimpers. It blinked up at Willow with wide blue eyes. Willow bit her lip, fighting back tears. Only two people, the two people she loved more than anything else in the world, had those eyes. And only one of them shared her flaming red hair. She clutched the infant Sophie closer to her chest. The mommy in Willow was screaming at her to take the baby and run, now. But what if that meant that the three-year old Sophie would never find Willow in the future? Then Tara might never have been resurrected. Willow had no idea how long she was even going to be in this time, she couldn't risk changing anything. She looked down at baby Sophie, who currently clutched a handful of her shirt in one tiny fist. In that moment, Willow decided what she was going to do about her current situation. She was going to stay right where she was. She was going to stay here and hold her baby girl. She was going to try and give her enough love to last her until they met again. And as magic gently tugged Willow away, baby Sophie was returned to her crib, sleeping the contented sleep of a child comforted by their mother for the first time.

Meanwhile, Tara groaned as she appeared on an unfamiliar sidewalk. Time-travel was definitely not a pleasant sensation for a pregnant woman with a weak stomach. She didn't have much time to dwell on this, as a dark-haired child sped out of the house she had manifested in front of. Tara's eyes widened as she looked down at the face of a familiar, though much younger friend.

"Faith?"


	45. The Many Faces Of Faith, Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

The eight-year old Faith Lehane glared at Tara, eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?" she asked. "How do you know my name?" Before Tara had a chance to answer either of these questions, a woman burst out of the house after Faith, looking enraged and, Tara thought, quite a bit intoxicated.

"You better run, you stupid little brat!" she yelled, hurling an empty vodka bottle at the young Faith, who instantly recoiled and shielded her face, prepared for this kind of treatment. Tara pushed the child behind her with one hand, while the other instinctively moved to protect her stomach. The bottle shattered on the pavement, and a shard of glass flung up and gave Tara a cut on the side of her head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled at the woman, whom she guessed to be Faith's mother.

"None of your business, Blondie!" Faith's mother yelled back, slamming the door and disappearing back inside. Tara, anger bubbling up inside her, was about to march right into the house and give this woman a piece of her mind, when she noticed Faith slipping around the corner at the other end of the street. She chased after her eight-year old friend.

"Faith, where are you going?"

"I'm takin' a walk" Faith replied. "It's what I always do when Mama drinks too much alcyhol, or takes her special medicine that I'm not 'sposed to touch. I can go home when she falls asleep." She looked up at Tara, crossing her arms. "You still haven't told me who you are, lady."

"Right. I'm Tara."

"You're bleedin' a bit, Tara. Well, it was nice meetin' you." Little Faith headed off down the street, but Tara continued to follow her, wiping blood from the side of her face as she went.

"Wait up, Faithy" she called. "Want some company on your walk?" Faith turned and glared at the witch.

"I don't need you lookin' after me. I don't need nobody, I can take care of myself."

"I never said you couldn't" said Tara, "But it's nice to have company sometimes, isn't it?"

"I guess" said Faith, sounding skeptical. "I'm kinda used to being by myself though." The child continued on her way, but did not object as Tara fell into step beside her. "No one really cares that much about me anyway. My Grammy used to, I think, but she died."

"When I was your age, there weren't very many people who cared much about me either" said Tara. "But now lots of people do, and one day, you're going to have a lot of people who care about you too, I promise." Faith frowned, once again skeptical. Tara decided that it was best not to push the girl too much, and so the pair slipped into a companionable silence for the rest of the walk.

"Mama's probably asleep by now" Faith said eventually. Personally, Tara thought passed out was more likely, but said nothing. "I should probably go home" the eight-year old shifted uncomfortably. "If you wanna come back with me, I could clean up that cut for you. I've had lotsa practice."

"Thank you, Faith" said Tara, trying to ignore her growing hatred toward her friend's mother. "That's very nice of you." So the pair headed back to Faith's childhood home, and after checking that her mother was indeed 'asleep', Faith led her new friend into the bathroom and set about cleaning up Tara's cut. She rinsed the wound out and dabbed it with antiseptic before placing a bandage over it.

"All done. Guess you'll be wantin' to go now, huh?"

"I do have to go" said Tara, a little reluctantly. "But that has nothing to do with you, Faith. I'd stay and hang out with you for hours if I could." For the first time, Tara saw the little girl smile.

"Really?"

"Really" Tara smiled back. The two of them headed back to the front door, and Tara crouched to hug her young friend. "See you round, Faithy."

"See ya round, Tara." And as Faith watched Tara head off down the sidewalk, she could have sworn she saw her friend suddenly disappear into thin air.


	46. The Many Faces Of Faith, Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Meanwhile, Sophie had found herself in what appeared to be a mall. Being the intelligent and observant little girl she was, she had guessed from her parent's words before she ended up here that she was somewhere lost in time. But, however intelligent and observant Sophie was, she was still only four years old, and after twenty minutes of wandering around different stores and finding no sign of her mother or aunties, the little girl began to cry. Nearby, a fourteen-year old Faith Lehane had been stealthily tucking items inside her jacket. She tried to ignore the cries of the child standing a few metres away from her, but found she just couldn't.

"Damn my conscience" she muttered to herself, making her way over to the little girl. "Hey kid, what's wrong?" Sophie's jaw dropped, surprised by the sight of her teenage favourite aunt, but she quickly recovered.

"I losted my Mommies" she replied, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Mommies? As in more than one?" asked Faith, confused. Sophie nodded. "Boy are you gonna get teased at school. What's your name, kid?"

"Sophie."

"I'm Faith" she held her hand out for the little girl to take. "Come on, I'll take ya to the customer service desk, they can help you find your moms." Sophie's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Sure" said Faith, leading Sophie through the mall. "My Mom was losin' me in here all the time when I was little. The customer service chick always helped out." The pair soon reached the customer service desk, and Faith sat Sophie on a bench nearby. "Stay there kid, okay?"

"Okay" Sophie replied. The teenage Faith walked up to the desk and began explaining the situation, unaware that Sophie was beginning to fade away behind her. When the future Dark Slayer turned around to check on her, the little girl, through no fault of her own, had completely disappeared. Faith panicked. The woman at the customer service desk looked annoyed.

"It isn't funny to joke about lost children" she said.

"I'm not joking, I left her sittin' on that bench a minute ago!" Faith cried. "Sophie! Where are ya kid? Come on, this isn't funny!" Faith spent the next hour frantically searching the mall for the missing child, but eventually gave up. Why did she even care anyway? If the kid was lost, it was her own stupid fault for wandering off again. Not her problem, never had been. Still, Faith couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

--

_"As soon as I get home, Dawn is so dead" _Buffy thought as she wandered around an unfamiliar grocery store. Turning a corner, Buffy spotted a woman reaching for a box of cigarrettes with one arm while a baby dangled dangerously from the other. The baby was slipping, but the mother didn't seem to notice, or maybe just didn't care. Buffy dashed forward, grabbing the child before she fell. Her mother turned, mildly surprised.

"Thanks lady, that could have been messy" she said, before turning back to continue rummaging through the cigarrettes. "You mind holdin' her for a sec?" Buffy had already decided that she strongly disliked this woman. What kind of mother almost drops their baby and then hands them off to a total stranger? As the baby attempted to pull a handful of Buffy's hair into her mouth, giggling, Buffy looked at her properly for the first time, and as she registered the deep brown eyes and growing mop of dark hair, she felt a lump in her throat, now knowing _exactly _who's mother could almost drop them then hand them off to a total stranger.

"She's um, a beautiful baby" Buffy managed to get out. "What's her name?"

"Faith" said Faith's mother, finally locating the cigarrettes that she wanted. "It was more my mom's idea than mine, she adores the bloody kid." She turned back to Buffy. "Well, thanks for holdin' her." After a few seconds Buffy forced her arms to move, reluctantly handing baby Faith back to her mother. Buffy felt as though her heart was being ripped into millions of pieces when the baby began to cry, stretching her tiny arms out towards the slayer. Resisting the overwhelming urge to snatch her infant soulmate back, Buffy bolted from the store, dropping to her knees outside as magic pulled her away.


	47. Fashion Sense

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

"I know, Giles" Dawn sighed into the phone. Connor sat nearby flipping through a spellbook, having jumped into research mode as soon as he had arrived home and learned of the situation. "This is the stupidest, most irresponsible thing I have ever done. Yes, I know I was an idiot to mess around with time. So you'll research the databases and see if you can find anything? Great, bye." Dawn groaned, slapping her forehead. Connor looked up fom his book.

"I take it Giles is pretty pissed off with you."

"Uh-huh. And now he's extra pissed because Andrew won't shut up about Dr. Who." She flopped down on the couch beside Connor, once again slapping her forehead. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Come on, it's not that bad" said Connor, giving his girlfriend a peck on the cheek and gently stroking her hair. "We always find a way to fix these things eventually."

"I know" Dawn sighed. "But that doesn't stop me from feeling like the world's biggest idiot." After a few minutes, she sighed again, taking the book from Connor's lap and handing him the phone. "Let's switch. I'll keep researching while you call your dad and see if he knows about anything that could help."

"Got it" said Connor, beginning to dial the number for the Hyperion, which Angel and the two remaining Fang Gang members had moved back into after leaving Wolfram & Heart. "You know, it's too bad Illyria lost all her powers. Some of them would have come in really handy now."

--

Faith had spent the past few hours wandering aimlessly around the streets of Los Angeles, searching for any sign of Buffy and the others without success. She could have sworn she'd seen a guy who looked kind of like Angel in some dark alley chasing a rat, and had followed him to see if he could help. This action turned out to be completely pointless, as Faith soon discovered that the Angel of this time was a useless bum who had not yet begun his quest for redemption. So, she had continued wandering aimlessly, with no idea what to do next. Looking up from her shoes which she had been staring at for the past half hour, Faith found herself standing out the front of a high school.

"Hemery Highschool" Faith read, frowning. "Sounds kind of familiar.." At that moment, the school bell rang, and a few minutes later students came flooding out the gates. Faith gasped as she recognised a very familiar blonde amongst a gaggle of teenage girls, suddenly remembering why the name 'Hemery' had sounded so familiar to her. The Dark Slayer toyed with whether she should stay or run. Would it change the future if Buffy were to see her now? Faith didn't really see how it could, seeing as this Buffy would have absolutely no idea who she was. She probably didn't know anything about slayers yet either, although on that count Faith couldn't really be sure. As she struggled with what to do, she failed to notice that Buffy and her group of 'friends' were already walking towards her. When she did it was too late, and running was no longer an option. The teenagers seemed to be having a laugh at Faith's expense as they passed by. She could have sworn she heard one of them say something about her clothes. Faith's breath hitched when Buffy rolled her eyes, breaking away from her friends and heading back towards her.

"Don't let them bother you" she said, giving a small smile. "They're just jealous 'cause they can't pull off the tough girl look as well as you." The newly fifteen, not-quite-the-slayer-yet Buffy turned and headed back to her 'friends', all of whom seemed a little grumpy with her. Faith waved after her future girlfriend, a smile spreading over her face as she once again shifted through time.

* * *

AN: Aww! The next chapter is one of my favourites, so stay tuned. It involves Sophie meeting four-year old Tara.


	48. A Little Bit Of Mommy Magic

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: I have to warn you all, this chapter contains some implied child abuse.

* * *

Sophie materialised in a child's bedroom. The room seemed very bare and plain, but for some reason she felt like it belonged to a little girl. Sophie frowned when she heard yelling coming from outside the room, as well as running footsteps.

"You're really gonna get it this time Tara!" one voice, coming from a young boy, yelled. "Daddy's gonna be so mad when I tell him you were talkin' back to me again!"

"I d-didn't mean t-to" another voice stuttered, as Sophie heard the small footsteps coming closer. "P-please don't t-tell Daddy!" Four-year old Tara Maclay burst through the door, screaming and ducking behind her bed when she saw an unfamiliar red haired girl standing on the other side of her room. Sophie screamed too, though more out of surprise than fear. After a few minutes, Tara peeked over the bed to check that her eyes hadn't been tricking her. "W-who are you?" she stuttered. "W-what are you d-doing in my r-room?"

"I'm Sophie" Sophie replied. "I think I gots here 'cause of my Auntie Dawn's magic." Tara slowly moved out from behind the bed.

"M-my Mommy does m-magic sometimes" she said. "D-daddy doesn't l-like it very m-much, but she s-said she'll t-teach me some w-when I get a bit b-bigger." She lifted her wide blue eyes to meet the matching set belonging to the other girl, now feeling comfortable enough to introduce herself. Sophie didn't look dangerous. As a matter of fact, she seemed special somehow. Very special. "I'm Tara."

"One of my Mommies is named Tara" Sophie smiled. Tara gave an identical lopsided smile back, before a look of confusion passed over her face.

"One of y-your mommies?"

"Uh-huh, I gots two" Sophie replied. "They both do magic too, but they're lots better at it than my Auntie Dawn."

"Wow." To four year old Tara, having two magical mommies and a magical auntie sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world. Her one Mommy was the only magical member of her family. To Tara, all her auntie seemed to do lately was get fatter, though her Mommy had told her that that was because she was having a baby, then warned her not to say anything like that to her Daddy.

"You looks a bit like my Mama Tara" said Sophie. She had actually begun to strongly suspect that this little girl _was _her Mama Tara, but thankfully her great perceptiveness led her to believe that telling a four-year old that you thought she was your mommy was probably not a good idea. "She's really pretty." Little Tara blushed, letting a curtain of hair fall in front of her face.

"I c-can't look t-too much l-like her then. I'm n-not pretty."

"Yes you are!" Sophie protested, seeing her new friend's look of disbelief. "You gots pretty blonde hair and a cute smile and big blue eyes, just like my Mama Tara, and my Mommy Willow always tells her that she's the most beautiful lady in the whole world!" Tara smiled, then remained silent for a while, before eventually asking this question:

"Do y-you want to p-play dolls?"

And so, Sophie and Tara sat playing for hours. But as a door slammed downstairs, Sophie saw the little girl who would one day be her mother tense up in panic.

"What's wrong Tara?"

"My D-Daddy's home" she stuttered. Tara knew she was going to be in trouble when Donny told Daddy she was talking back to him. Girls didn't talk back to boys, and it wouldn't matter that Mommy had a headache and Tara was only trying to stop Donny from annoying her. But what would her Daddy do to Sophie? Would he hurt her too? No, Tara wouldn't let that happen. She suddenly felt extremely protective of her new friend. So, as she heard her father approaching the room, she acted more selflessly than a four-year old should ever have to. Tara grabbed Sophie's hand and led her over to the closet, gently pushing her inside. "Stay here!" she ordered, without even a hint of her usual stutter. "You have to stay in here no matter what, okay?"

"Okay" said Sophie. Tara closed the closet door just as her father entered the room. Sophie, knowing from nightmares what was about to happen, blocked her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see or hear any of it, and was almost unaware of the stream of magic pulling her off to her next time-travel destination.

When a slightly battered and bruised little Tara checked in the closet a little while later, she was happy her friend had gone, knowing she was probably safer somewhere else.

"I h-hope her Mommies find her" she whispered to herself.


	49. Dr Willow

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This chapter features Willow and a slightly older little Tara, enjoy!

* * *

When Willow rematerialised in the corner of a crowded room, she panicked, taking a quick look around to check if anybody had seen. Thankfully, it looked like her sudden appearance had gone unnoticed. Relaxing slightly, she surveyed her surroundings. It seemed like a celebration of some sort, possibly a wedding reception, was taking place, and all the guests looked to be dressed in formal wear. Willow glanced down at her own casual attire, feeling self-conscious and under dressed. She considered staying in the corner to avoid drawing attention to herself while she waited for the spell to pull her off somewhere else. For awhile, this was exactly what she did. But then she spotted a very familiar looking child standing at a snack table across the room. Willow would have known the girl anywhere. It was Tara, at about seven years of age. Willow smiled, but her smile soon turned into a look of panic when she saw the little girl reach for a snack that contained what looked like a shrimp.

_"Maybe she doesn't know she's allergic yet" _Willow thought to herself, panic growing as she began to push through the crowd, still trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She had to stop Tara from eating that shrimp. But Tara was on the other side of the room, and there was no way Willow could get there in time. She bit her lip to help herself resist the urge to cry out as her future soulmate bit into a food that could kill her. She continued to push through the crowd, panicking even more as little Tara began to gasp and clutch at her throat, showing the first telltale signs of an allergic reaction. As other's began to notice the child's stress they began to gather around, inadvertently blocking Willow's path. A kind looking woman who Willow guessed to be Tara's mother crouched beside the little girl, while the man she recognised as Tara's father stood nearby looking unimpressed. Willow hung back a little, waiting to see if they knew what to do.

"Tara, what's wrong sweetie?" Her mother asked. Tara tried to speak, but the swelling in her throat made it difficult. Tara's mother let out a cry of alarm as the little girl fell to her knees, still gasping. Her father just looked angry.

"Get up, girl" he barked. "Stop making a scene!" Willow felt hatred for her soulmate's father well up inside her, and she couldn't stand back any longer.

"Get out of the way!" she yelled, pushing people aside as she fought her way to Tara. "Let me through, she's having an allergic reaction!" She dropped to her knees beside Tara's mother who had pulled the child into her lap, then muttered a quick spell to conjure an EpiPen which she quickly plunged into little Tara's thigh. The older Tara had taught her how to use one a few months after they had started dating, in case of emergency. After a tense couple of moments, little Tara drew a shaky breath. Her mother gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you!" she cried, clutching her daughter closer to her chest. "Whoever you are, thank you!"

"On that note" said Tara's father, eyes narrowed, "Who are you, exactly?" Willow was tempted to say 'Someone who loves your daughter a heck of a lot more than you do', but she didn't.

"My name is Willow" she replied. "I'm, uh, a doctor. I was on my way to the medical conference, but I must have got off on the wrong floor."

"Lucky you did" said Tara's mother.

"Yeah" Willow smiled. "I probably better go. The other, uh, doctors will be missing me." She stood and began to walk away, until a small, stuttering voice called her back.

"W-wait." Willow turned to smile at little Tara.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"You d-dropped this" she stuttered, holding the slightly crumpled ultrasound ultrasound photo out to Willow. She looked her future soulmate in the eye. "It's s-special, isn't it?"

"Yeah" Willow smiled, crouching to give little Tara a hug. "Very special."


	50. Do I Know You?

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This chapter takes place during the summer between seasons 2 and 3, when Buffy ran off to L.A.

* * *

Tara materialised in complete darkness, having no idea where she was. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she realised that she was in a graveyard. A very familiar graveyard.

"I'm in Sunnydale" she whispered to herself as she made her way through the graveyard, trying to think of what to do next. Her first instinct was to find Willow, but the fact that she didn't know exactly _when _in Sunnydale's history she was made this difficult. For all she knew, Willow might not have even been born yet.

"Hey there, little lady." Tara spun around, panicking when she saw a group of vampires making their way towards her. "Wanna join us for dinner?" Tara turned and ran, only to find herself face to face with another group of vampires. She was surrounded, and there were way too many to fight on her own. Tara knew she was in big trouble, and desperately hoped that some form of Buffy was in this time, hopefully patrolling nearby. As the vamps closed in, Tara laid an arm over her stomach in a vain attempt at protecting her baby. She tried to fight, but was soon overwhelmed. But just as it seemed all hope was lost, one of the vamps crumbled into dust. The others, not seeing the source of their companion's demise, panicked and fled, knocking Tara to the ground as they ran. She watched wide-eyed as the teenage Xander and Oz, armed with crossbows, sprinted by in pursuit of the vamps, but her attention quickly shifted to the familiar young redhead who stopped to help her to her feet.

"Are you okay? Those uh, gangs always doing PCP are getting pretty rough these days."

"I'm fine, thanks" Tara smiled. "And I know those guys were vampires, you don't have to hide anything from me."

"Good" said teenage Willow, visibly relaxing. "'Cause if I had to explain why the guys went after them with crossbows, I had nothing." She wrinkled her brow, staring at Tara for a second. "Um, do I know you? I feel like I know you somehow."

"I used to hang out at The Bronze a lot when I was younger" Tara replied, comforted by the fact that technically, she wasn't lying. "Maybe that's it. I'm Tara, by the way."

"Willow. Um, maybe you should stick with me for awhile, I don't feel right leaving you alone after you've just been attacked." With no argument from Tara, the pair headed off in the direction that the boys had gone. "Hey, if you know about vampires then how come you were wandering around a cemetery without a stake? That's kinda big no-no number one."

"I had one, but I must have dropped it somewhere" Tara lied.

"Oh" Willow began rummaging around in the bag she had slung over her shoulder, pulling out a stake and a bottle of holy water, both of which she handed to Tara. "Take these, I've got plenty." Tara smiled in thanks, happy to now have some form of defence if she was attacked again. She held onto the stake, while tucking the holy water into the front pocket of her jeans. The young Willow couldn't help but notice the way Tara's free hand soon moved back to rest protectively on her stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

"Yeah" Tara smiled. "It's early, so you can't see that much yet.."

"I see it" Willow smiled back, rubbing her future wife's stomach. "Hey there, little one!"

"Will!" called Xander's voice as he ran towards them with Oz close behind. "Man, you should have seen us! We were on fire tonight, right Oz?" Oz just nodded. The group headed out of the graveyard. Tara couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy as she saw Oz sling an arm around Willow's shoulders and watched her snuggle into his side.

"Do you want one of us to walk you home?" Willow asked when they reached the cemetery gates.

"No, I'll be fine" Tara smiled, holding up the stake Willow had given her before heading off in the opposite direction. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Willow called after her.

And a year later when Willow met a beautiful but shy blonde at the campus wicca group, she couldn't help thinking she'd seen her somewhere before...


	51. Little B

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: The second part of this chapter has some small references to Buffy and Faith's conversation in the last chapter of 'Willow's Child.'

* * *

When Faith materialised, she found herself wandering the streets of L.A yet again, but noticed that quite a few buildings were missing, possibly not built yet, so she guessed that the spell had now taken her further into the past. She sighed as she set off down the street, allowing herself a small laugh when she had yet another sighting of rat-eating Angel a few hours later. He was slightly less scruffy than the one she had seen before, supporting her 'further in the past' theory. However, the Dark Slayer's relatively uneventful trip to the Los Angeles of yesteryear was about to come to an end.

"My purse!" a woman yelled from nearby. The woman's voice seemed very familiar, but Faith didn't have time to dwell on this, speeding after the mugger as he rushed past her. She quickly swept his feet out from under him with a well timed kick, before snatching the purse he was holding and turning around to go return it to it's owner, a blonde woman pushing a pram. A very familiar blonde woman pushing a pram.

"Uh, hear ya go Miss" Faith handed over the purse, her voice almost failing her.

"Oh, thank you!" cried a young, and very relieved Joyce Summers. "Thank you so much, Miss, uh.."

"Faith" the Dark Slayer introduced herself. Her eyes moved to the pram, where a blonde haired ten-month old stared at her with hazel eyes while chewing on a teething ring. She smiled. "Who's the cutie?"

"Oh, this is Buffy" Joyce smiled proudly. The Dark Slayer crouched in front of the pram.

"Hey, little B. I'm Faith."

"Faif!" said baby Buffy, dropping her teething ring into her lap. She clapped and giggled, proud of herself for learning a new word. "Faif, Faif!

"That's strange, she's never picked up a word so fast before" said Joyce, smiling at Faith. "She must like you."

"Faif, Faif, Faif!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty good with kids" Faith smiled.

"Do you have any of your own?"

"Nah, but I'm a member of the proud Auntie team. My little niece is the cutest kid on the planet, except maybe for this one!" She tickled little Buffy's stomach, making the baby giggle, then stood up. "Well, I better be lettin' you two ladies get on with your day. Bye."

"Goodbye, Faith. And again, thank you."

"Really, it was no problem." She turned and headed off down the street, but a tiny voice stopped her.

"Faif!" Faith turned around.

"What is it, kiddo?" she asked. Little Buffy held her drool-covered teething ring out towards the Dark Slayer.

"Faif wan teefy?"

"No thanks, you keep it" Faith smiled. "See ya, little B."

"Buh-bye Faif!"

--

Buffy panicked when the first thing she saw on materialising was her girlfriend lying in a hospital bed. She panicked even more when she realised that Faith was dressed in a blue jumpsuit. She was in the prison infirmary. As Faith's eyelids fluttered Buffy tried to find somewhere to hide, but it was no use.

"B?" Faith mumbled drowsily, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Man, they must have me doped up real good. Or maybe I'm dreamin'."

"Why do you say that?" Buffy frowned.

"Well you died yesterday, for one" said Faith. "So this must be either a dream or a hallucination. Which is it? I'm kinda confused, my head's still all foggy." As if to clarify her point, Faith's eyelids began to droop.

"Neither" Buffy replied, an idea coming to her mind. "I, uh, had some unfinished business." Faith looked confused.

"With me?"

"Yes, with you." Buffy took a step closer to the bed. "I'm sorry I wasn't a greater support to you, and I forgive you for everything."

"What?" Faith mumbled, the sedatives in her system causing her to drift back to sleep.

"I forgive you, Faith" Buffy whispered, dropping a kiss to the Dark Slayer's forehead as magic pulled her away.


	52. The Stolen Barbie Incident

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This chapter involves Sophie becoming involved in a cute moment with the 5-year old Xander and Willow. Enjoy!

* * *

Meanwhile, Sophie had found herself wandering around a town that seemed strangely familiar to her, while at the same time knowing that she had never been there before in her life. Suddenly finding herself drawn to one house in particular, she clambered over the low brick fence and crept into the backyard. There she found a grumpy looking little girl with red hair and green eyes who wore a pair of overalls and sat clutching a Barbie doll. A dark-haired boy sat up in a badly built tree house, looking just as grumpy. As Sophie didn't like the look of the rope ladder that hung down from the tree, she turned her attention to the girl first.

"Um, hello?" On hearing Sophie's words, the girl leapt to her feet.

"Who are you?" she cried. "Where did you come from?"

"I'm Sophie" Sophie replied. "I climbded over the fence." The girl relaxed slightly, but still took a few steps backwards.

"My Mommy says I'm not 'sposed to talk to strangers."

"I'm not a stranger if you knows my name" said Sophie. "'Sides, doesn't that usually mean growed up strangers?"

"I guess so" the girl staired at Sophie for a second. "You're not gonna say you'll give me candy and make me get in a car, are you?"

"No."

"Then you're probably okay" the girl finally decided. "I'm Willow." Sophie smiled, realising that she had just met her young Mommy Willow.

"Why did you looks so grumpy before?" she asked.

"I breaked up with my boyfriend" little Willow replied, pointing to the boy in the tree who Sophie now guessed to be little Xander (she had heard this story before).

"Why?" Sophie asked, though she knew exactly what had happened.

"He stole my Barbie" said Willow. Noticing Sophie raise an eyebrow at the doll in her hand, she elaborated. "He gave it back, but I still don't wanna be his girlfriend anymore."

"Is that why he looks grumpy too?"

"Yeah" Willow sighed. "That's kinda part of my problem."

"What problem?" asked Sophie.

"Well, Xander was my bestest friend before he was my boyfriend" Willow explained. "Now I'm kinda worried that he won't wanna be my friend at all, but I still want him to be." Sophie paused for a moment, thinking about her mini-mommy's predicament.

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"Uh.. no."

"Well you should" said Sophie. "My Mommies always say that talking things through is the bestest way to solve your problems." Now it was little Willow's turn to stop and think.

"Maybe you're right" she sighed, glancing up at the still very grumpy looking little Xander. She tucked her Barbie into the front pocket of her overalls and turned back to Sophie. "Will you come with me?"

"Um.." Sophie eyed the rope ladder nervously. Willow saw this, and smiled encouragingly.

"Don't worry, it's safe. Our other friend Jesse's daddy came and fixed it up real good. He's gonna come back another weekend and build Xander a proper tree house."

"Well.. okay." With that, Willow and Sophie began climbing the ladder to the tree house. "We're g-getting pretty h-high" Sophie stuttered.

"It's okay" said Willow, feeling a need to comfort her new friend. "Just don't look down." Willow soon reached the top of the ladder, then reached back to pull Sophie up. Little Xander turned to them, frowning.

"I thought I told you to go away, Willow. I don't want you up here if you don't wanna be my girlfriend no more." His frown fell away when he saw Sophie, curiosity quickly getting the better of him. "Who's she?"

"This is Sophie" said Willow. "She told me I should come up and talk to you." Xander's frown quickly returned.

"Well what if I don't wanna talk to you right now?" he yelled.

"Come on, Xander" little Willow sighed. "Just because I don't wanna be your girlfriend anymore doesn't mean I don't wanna be your bestest friend."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well.. okay" little Xander hugged little Willow, then looked around puzzled. "Hey, where'd that other girl go?"

--

Sophie looked around her new surroundings, frightened. She had materialised in some sort of dark alley. Young as she was, she knew this was not a safe place to be. Suddenly, a vampire leapt from the shadows, snarling. Sophie screamed, then instinct kicking in, she turned and ran.


	53. Not So Dark Afterall

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

An: The first part of this chapter takes place during 'Two To Go', after the car chase but before Willow drains Wrack. The second part takes place during 'New Moon Rising', although that should be pretty self-explanatory once you read it.

* * *

Taking a quick look behind her, Sophie screamed again. The vampire was closing in, but her small legs couldn't carry her any faster than they were already going. But just as the vamp managed to close a hand around the little girl's shoulder, it burst into flames. Sophie turned to look at her saviour, eyes widening in surprise and fear. Standing before her was someone she, and her parents, had hoped she'd never meet. Her Mommy Willow's evil self, not quite at her worst, but getting close.

"Hey there, little girl. Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to go out on your own at night? It's dangerous." Dark Willow stared at the little girl in front of her, who whimpered and backed away. Those eyes, they were so much like... Dark Willow shook her head, but for one fleeting instant, so quick she could barely be sure it was real, Sophie could have sworn she saw the wicca's dark eyes flash their normal emerald green. The flash was gone as quick as it had come, and Sophie once again felt Dark Willow's black eyes fixed on her. "You run along home now." When Sophie didn't move, the witch frowned. "GO!" she snapped. The anger in Dark Willow's voice jolted Sophie back to life, and she bolted, speeding off down another dark alley. Dark Willow considered following the girl to tell her that going that way was probably not the best idea in the world, but decided against it. She had more important things to do.

Sophie sped down the alley, crashing straight into Tara who had suddenly materialised. The little girl threw her arms around her mother's leg and burst into a fit of sobs. Tara, relieved to see that her daughter was unharmed but worried about why she seemed so upset, crouched down to comfort her.

"Sophie, sweetie, what happened?"

"A vampire grabbeded me, and then bad Mommy Willow came, and..."

"Oh Goddess! Did she hurt you?" Tara cried.

"No, she saveded me from the vampire. But then she got angry and yelled and scareded me lots and lots!" Sophie continued to sob into her mother's chest, but Tara couldn't help the small smile that spread over her face. Dark Willow had been dangerous, she couldn't argue with that. But even when she was supposedly evil, Willow hadn't hurt their little girl. And in Tara's book at least, that meant something.

--

Willow materialised within the darkened UC Sunnydale campus. The more darkened than usual UC Sunnydale campus. As a tiny flickering light in the distance signalled another person approaching, Willow ducked behind a conveniently placed tree to avoid bumping into someone she knew. As it turned out, the approaching person was somebody she knew well. Very well. It was her younger self, striding happily across campus clutching a familiar 'extra flamey' candle. Willow smiled, knowing exactly where her freshman-year self was heading. Then she frowned, spotting a vampire creeping through the bushes not too far away from her freshman-year self. She didn't remember that ever happening. It didn't matter though. Nothing was going to stop her younger self reaching Tara's dorm tonight. Willow snapped a branch from the tree she was currently hiding behind, then sprinted around to where the vamp was just about to leap out at the other Willow, and quickly staked it. The beast had never seen it coming, she almost felt sorry for it. Willow quickly crouched down in the bushes as the younger Willow turned around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she shrugged and continued on towards Tara's dorm by the light of her extra flamey candle, finally ready to tell the other witch just how much she loved her.


	54. Slayers On The Rooftop

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: We're getting near the end now, folks. Don't worry though, I already have at least two more stories planned in this series, as well as a collection of Christmas themed one-shots when the time rolls around. This is also the last chapter featuring the Scoobies going back in time. For the last few chapters after this, they're going to jump forward.

* * *

Buffy frowned as she wondered where the hell she had ended up now, although the roof she currently found herself did seem somehow familiar. Her frown soon turned to a smile when she saw The Dark Slayer materialise a few metres away from her.

"Faith!" she cried, rushing over to her girlfriend and flinging her arms around her.

"Buffy!" Faith cried back, beaming. "Man, you had me worried for a while there. Are you okay?"

"I am now" Buffy smiled, pulling her girlfriend into a passionate kiss. The two reunited lovers sat down on a pile of crates on the roof, and began sharing their crazy time travel adventures.

"You were a really cute baby, B" Faith smiled.

"So were you" Buffy grinned, leaning in for another kiss. "Not that I would have expected anything different." She frowned when they broke apart, sensing her girlfriend's growing unease. "Faith, what's wrong baby?"

"I know where we are B" she said quietly. "We're.. move!" Faith pushed Buffy behind the crates before diving down next to her as the nearby window smashed, revealing the two slayer's teenage selves locked in a fierce battle. Buffy suddenly felt sick to the stomach as she realised exactly where and when she and her now beloved sister slayer were.

"Oh God" she mumbled, burying her face in Faith's shoulder. "Oh God, I don't think I can watch this. Scratch that, I can't. I can't watch this."

"Then don't" Faith whispered, stroking her girlfriend's hair comfortingly as they crouched behind the crates. "Don't watch it, and don't think about it. Think about somethin' nice instead, like, um... Sophie! Isn't she just the cutest kid? And she'll make a great big sis when the baby comes." Buffy wasn't listening, becoming too caught up in her guilt.

"I hate this! I hate what I did to you, I.." Buffy collapsed into a fit of sobs as she heard a grunt from the past Faith that signified the moment that the past Buffy had plunged the knife into the Dark Slayer's stomach, and the sickening thud that came soon after as the young Faith toppled from the roof. "Oh God Faith, I'm sorry!" she cried, sobbing into her girlfriend's shoulder. "I'm so sorry baby!"

"Hey" said Faith, lifting the other slayer's head so she could look into her tear-filled green eyes, "You've got nothin' to be sorry for. If I was you back then, I probably would have stabbed me too. Let's face it, I didn't really have a whole lot of redeemin' qualities. But to tell ya the truth B, I think we should both just forget that this whole damn mess ever happened, 'cause I forgive you B. I forgave you a long time ago. I think a part of me forgave you the moment you did it." Buffy leaned over and placed a soft, sweet kiss on her girlfriend's lips, a small smile spreading over her face.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"Well, if it's even half as much as I love you, then I'm satisfied" Faith grinned, giving Buffy another kiss.


	55. Pretty Good

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Meanwhile, Dawn, Connor, and Xander, who came straight over to help after he finished work, had been researching away for hours, without success. Suddenly the phone rang, and Dawn leapt up to answer it, hoping for some good news.

"Hello, Dawn speaking. Hi, Giles. Any luck?" She paused, waiting to hear what the Watcher had to say. "Oh my god, really? That's great, Giles. Yes, I promise not to do anything this bloody stupid again. Okay, bye!" Dawn hung up the phone, while Connor and Xander looked up at her expectantly. "Giles called the coven. They said its a biggie, but they can fix it. They're all gonna end up in England, though, but that's no problem" she smiled. "And its a one-shot deal, so if I ever screw up this bad again, I'm on my own. Not that I'm planning to."

"No offence, Dawnie" said Xander, "But isn't that what you said the last five times you've screwed up?" Dawn pouted.

"Oh shut up" she muttered.

--

Sophie frowned as she wiped her still teary eyes. She hoped her Mama Tara wasn't too worried about her suddenly disappearing like that. Then she smiled, realising that she was back in her own house, and decided to search for her family members in the hope that they had returned home too. She walked into the lounge room, and stopped dead. There, sitting on the couch, were two young girls aged about nine and five. The younger one, who had blonde hair and emerald green eyes, yelped and ducked behind the older girl, who had flaming red hair and wide blue eyes almost exactly like Sophie's.

"W-who are y-you?" the youngest girl stuttered.

"I'm Sophie" Sophie replied, beginning to feel a little scared. "Where's my mommies? What are you doing in my house?"

"This is o-our house" said the other girl, before pointing to the redhead. "And you c-cant be S-sophie. She's Sophie."

"I think we're both Sophie" the older girl smiled, a very familiar lopsided smile. "Lily, remember when I told you about that time Auntie Dawn mucked up that spell and made everybody get lost in time?" The little girl nodded. "Well, this is one of the things that happened." The younger girl, Lily, stared at Sophie for a second.

"Hmm. W-well, she does l-look a lot l-like you..."

Sophie watched this exchange, beginning to feel very confused, and a little bit frightened. She really wanted her mommies now. Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying was heard throughout the house, but this soon ceased, and Faith emerged from upstairs cradling a tiny pink blanket-swaddled bundle in her arms. Sophie rushed over and threw her arms around the Dark slayer's leg. Not her mommies, but in Sophie's eyes, her Auntie Faith was the next best thing.

"What the hell?!" Faith cried, then, worried that she had frightened the three-month old baby girl in her arms, began to rock her gently, kissing her forehead. She then turned her attention to her two nieces sitting on the couch. "Okay you two, where'd the little Little Red come from?" The older Sophie sighed, slightly annoyed at having to explain again.

"Remember when Auntie Dawn did that time travel spell?"

"Oh" said Faith, realisation coming to her. She shifted the baby into the crook of one arm, then crouched to young Sophie's eye level, ruffling her hair. "I know you're probably freakin' here Little Red, but don't worry, we'll sort it out. I'll just go get your moms, okay?" The Dark Slayer headed back upstairs, returning a few minutes later with Buffy, Willow and Tara in tow, having explained the situation to them. Willow entered instant 'mommy comfort' mode, scooping little Sophie into her arms. The little girl couldn't help but notice the small bump on her stomach similar to the one Mama Tara had now, although Willow's smaller frame made it a lot more obvious.

"Hey, sweetie. Wow, its kinda hard to believe you were ever this small."

"Yeah" Tara smiled, reaching out to stroke the little girl's hair. Willow turned to the older Sophie.

"Do you remember where- or when- you went after this?"

"To the coven in England, back in real time" she replied. "Giles looked after me until the rest of you got back."

"That settles that, then" said Willow, smiling at little Sophie. "We'll look after you until you go, and when you do, just go to Giles, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy Willow" Sophie replied. She looked around at what was apparently her future. She had a little sister, and possibly another one on the way. She had a little baby cousin, who both Faith and Buffy seemed to look at as though she was the centre of their world. Sophie smiled. As far as futures went, this one looked pretty good.


	56. Try To Act Surprised

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: Soooo sorry I haven't updated, my mum didn't pay the internet bill.

* * *

Faith crashed to the floor as she rematerialised, having lost her balance due to being in a sitting position when she had disappeared from her previous destination. Once she had recovered from her minor annoyance at being pulled away from Buffy in the middle of a make-out session, she smiled, realising that she was in the front hallway of her own home. The idea that she even had a place to truly call home was still slightly foreign to Faith, but she liked it. She reached for a picture frame that had fallen, but thankfully not shattered, beside her, assuming it was one of the many happy snaps of Sophie that Willow and Tara had put up around the house. When she actually looked at the picture, the Dark slayer's eyes widened. The frame contained a picture of herself, gazing lovingly at the tiny dark-haired baby cradled in her arms, who stared back up at her with hazel eyes that matched Buffy's. Faith felt a lump in her throat, but before she had time to process this information, a dog bounded out of the lounge room looking very excited to see her, jumping on Faith and licking her face. She gently pushed it out of the way, before looking around at some of the other unfamiliar photos that now graced the house's walls. Many of these featured Sophie and her two yet to be born siblings, though at the moment Faith was much more interested in the pictures of her own future child. The most recent ones showed the little girl at about five years of age, and the dog, a Border Collie, featured in quite a few of them, along with herself and Buffy.

"You my dog buddy?" Faith asked, scratching the animal's head. It gave a happy bark in reply, wagging it's tail. "I'll take that as a yes" Faith smiled. The Dark slayer stood to return the photo to it's place on the wall, when the front door suddenly swung open, bringing Faith face with her future self, who was carrying the little girl from the pictures on her back. An older Sophie, as well as a blonde girl and little red-haired boy Faith recognised from the photos, also appeared in the doorway. The dog looked confused, as did the child on future Faith's back.

"Mama Faith, why's there another one of you?"

"Is she a demon?" asked the little red haired boy, ducking behind Sophie's leg. "I don't likes demons."

"She's not a demon" future Faith replied, letting her daughter slide off her back. "You guys go watch some T.V, okay?" The children obeyed and headed into the lounge room, but Sophie paused to smile and wave to the younger Faith as she passed.

"So" Faith began after a short uncomfortable silence. "Remember the time Dawn pulled that time travel mojo?"

"Of course I do" the older Faith replied. "Ten years ago I was standin' right where you are." She took the photo from her younger self, eyes misting up slightly as she returned it to it's place on the wall. "Best freakin' day of my life right there. That kid is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me." She turned to smile at her younger self. "And this is the first time the thought of this kinda future hasn't got ya scared shitless." Young Faith couldn't help smiling back.

"Yeah."

"This whole time thing'll be over soon. Right about now, as a matter of fact. Don't freak when you end up in England, the G-man set that up. And another thing" future Faith gestured to the still confused dog as her younger self disappeared into the time stream. "Try to act surprised when B gives ya a puppy this Christmas."


	57. Absolutely Perfect

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This chapter is actually set during one of the sequels I have planned, and may feature some small hints about th events of that sequel.

* * *

Buffy faced a similar problem to her girlfriend when she rematerialised, but unlike Faith, who had fallen backwards, Buffy face-planted, right in front of a familiar pair of feet. Looking up, she saw that the feet belonged to her future self. Her _very_ pregnant future self. Buffy's jaw dropped. The older Buffy looked surprised for a moment, but then rolled her eyes, offering a hand to help her younger self to her feet.

"I remember this" she sighed. "I still can't believe Dawn was so stupid." Buffy was still staring slack-jawed at her older self, who smirked. "I remember acting like that, too. I'll just give you a second to adjust." She waddled over to the couch and lowered herself down beside the dog that was curled up on it. The dog laid it's head in her lap and whined. "I know, buddy, I miss her too" future Buffy sighed. Young Buffy finally managed to find her voice.

"Miss who?" she croaked.

"Faith" the older Buffy replied, scratching the dog's head with one hand while the other rested on her swollen belly. "He's her dog, really. I gave him to her as a Christmas present when he was a puppy."

"Okay. Um, where is Faith exactly?" Buffy had a quick look around the house, discovering that she, her future self, and the dog were its only current occupants. "Come to think of it, where's everybody?" At this point, future Buffy began acting a little awkward.

"They, er, have some stuff to deal with.."

"And they left you alone?!" cried Buffy. "Left you alone while you're that pregnant? You look like you're about to pop! What the hell were they thinking?!"

"Faith was thinking it was a bad idea. I had to practically shove her out the door and then lock it to stop her coming back in."

"Why?" asked Buffy, becoming very confused as to why her future self could be so completely calm about this situation.

"Like I said, there's some stuff going down and Willow and Tara need Faith's help to deal with.. ouch!" Buffy ran to her future self's side, concerned.

"Are you okay? Should I call someone?"

"Nah, it's nothing" future Buffy replied, though even she did not look entirely convinced. "The baby's just got a kick like her Mama Faith, that's all." Buffy frowned but dropped the subject, as the idea of having an argument with her older self over her unborn child was just way too weird. So, she returned to her original line of questioning.

"Alright, then. Do you mind telling me what 'stuff' everybody had to run off and deal with?"

"Yes, I do mind" future Buffy replied, "And even if I did want to tell you, I can't."

"Why?" Buffy frowned.

"Because it hasn't happened to you yet" said the older Buffy. "You knowing what happens now could change time. My, and therefore your future is absolutely perfect as it is right now, and I don't want to do anything that could ruin it." She winced again, causing another frown from her younger self.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call the hospital or something?"

"No thanks" future Buffy waved as her younger self began to fade away. "You're going home about now anyway. Don't worry about turning up in England, Giles set that up with the coven. Bye!"


	58. Have A Great Life!

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

Willow, still crouching as she had been before she moved, appeared on a vaguely familiar street corner, quickly getting to her feet when a man walking his dog passed by a few seconds later and gave her a strange look. She looked around, smiling when she spotted a familiar blonde who appeared to be searching for something, a hand resting on the slight bulge of her stomach. It was Tara. More importantly, it was _her _Tara. Willow's smile widened, and she began to run towards her wife as fast as she could.

Meanwhile, a concerned Tara had spent the last few minutes searching for any sign of Sophie, but was finally beginning to face the fact that her daughter had not moved with her. This would have Worried Tara a lot more if she hadn't been distracted by her other favourite redhead calling out to her.

"Tara!" Willow called, rushing over and throwing her arms around her soulmate. "Tara! Oh goddess, I was so worried about you, and the baby..." she paused, frowning as she spotted the bandage on the side of Tara's head. "What happened?"

"A little encounter with eight-year old Faith" Tara explained. "Her mother got drunk and threw a bottle at her. I got in the way. Little Faith cleaned the cut up for me. She was really sweet."

"Sweet, huh?" Willow smirked, gently peeling back the bandage to inspect her lover's wound. "Never thought I'd hear that word associated with Faith."

"What about that time she fell asleep snuggled up with Sophie?"

"Okay, that was sweet" Willow admitted, before frowning at Tara's cut. "She's cleaned it up well, but it still looks like it's going to leave a scar. I could heal it.."

"No, leave it" Tara protested, moving Willow's hand before lifting her wife's hair to kiss the scar she found there, her face breaking into a familiar lopsided smile. "Now we'll match." Willow smiled, sticking the bandage back in place before pulling her wife into a kiss. When they broke apart, she bent down to place a light kiss on Tara's baby bump. It was at this moment that Tara realised why this street was so familiar. Despite some of the changes that came with time, she now recognised it as _their _street. She also realised that they were standing in front of their older, but still recognisable house, and that two elderly women sat on the front porch watching them intently.

"Uh, hi" she greeted, waving to the women, who seemed strangely familiar. "I think we used to live in this house."

"You still do" said one of the women, smiling a lopsided smile that matched Tara's exactly.

"Come on up" the other woman called, emerald eyes sparkling with a youthfulness that defied her age. "We've been expecting you."

"Expecting us?" asked Willow, confused, as she walked up to the front porch with Tara. "How could you be expecting us? We didn't even know that we were going to be, er, passing by here."

"Because we remember this" said the woman. "It's already happened to us, only last time we were standing where you are."

"Huh?" said Willow, still a little confused.

"They're us, Will" Tara tried to explain, as realisation hit. "They're our future selves. See, they have our eyes and they're wearing the same wedding rings, and they have matching scars on their heads, like we'll have when my cut heals up."

"Whoa" said Willow, staring at her future self. "This is weird."

"That's what I thought at the time" future Willow smiled.

"But it's also kinda cool. I mean, we get to live to old age so, yay!"

"Second time lucky" Tara laughed, while her older self nodded in agreement, looking up from the baby jacket she was knitting. "Who's that for?" Tara asked curiously.

"Oh, were going to be grandmas soon" the future Tara smiled. "And Sophie's fine by the way, she moved at the same time you did. She's back in regular time now, Giles is looking after her with the coven."

"Which is exactly where you're going" future Willow smiled as the young Willow and Tara were pulled a away. "Have a great life, I know we did!"


	59. Safe

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This is the last chapter folks. Don't worry though, 'cause as you know I have another sequel planned. I've also written a little sub-story, titled 'Family Reunion' that is set between this story and the sequel.

* * *

When Faith materialised in the middle of the chanting coven, the first thing she saw was Sophie sitting at Giles feet playing with Tara Bear. The teddy, as well as a pair of pyjamas, had turned up on Giles' desk along with a note in Cordelia's handwriting saying that Sophie would need them when she arrived. The little girl looked up, beaming, running to the Dark Slayer as she stepped out of the Witches' circle.

"Auntie Faith!" she cried happily. "Are you okay?"

"Five by five, Little Red" Faith smiled, giving Giles a quick wave before scooping the little girl into her arms and ruffling her hair. "How're you holdin' up?"

"I'm good" Sophie replied. "Have you seen my mommies?"

"Nah, but I don't think you have to be too worried about them kiddo. Your Mommy Willow is the world's most badass wicca, and your Mama Tara's a hell of a lot tougher than anyone gives her credit for."

"I knows they're both safe, but I'm worried abouts..." before Sophie could finish her sentence, Buffy appeared in the witches' circle, distracting a certain Dark slayer.

"B!" Faith beamed, dimples in full display. She shifted Sophie to one arm, and wrapped the other around her lover as she approached. Her smile faded a little when she noticed the slight worry on Buffy's face. "Are you okay baby? Is somethin' wrong?"

"No" said Buffy, shaking her head to pull herself out of her current mindset of 'I think I just witnessed myself going into labor'. "I'm fine, still just a little wigged out from all this time travel stuff." The slayer smiled, but it did nothing to erase the concern that was now present on the faces of Faith, Giles, and even Sophie. "Really guys, I'm okay." Buffy was aved from any further questions by the appearance of Willow and Tara among their fellow witches. Faith set Sophie down to let her run to her mothers.

"I hope you wasn't too worried about me Mama Tara" the little girl smiled as Tara lifted her.

"I was little worried" Tara admitted, smoothing down her daughter's hair from when Faith had ruffled it a few minutes before.

"I'm sorry" Sophie pouted, upset at causing her parents any distress.

"Hey, it's not your fault, sweetie" Willow added, tickling the little girl's stomach. "Besides, we're your mommies. It's our job to worry about you." Sophie giggled, and Faith smiled to see her little niece happy, when her eyes were drawn to the bandage on Tara's head, and a flood of memories rushed into her mind. She felt a little dizzy, and it was now Buffy's turn to be worried.

"Faith, what's wrong?" she cried, panicking a little. "You don't look so good.."

"I feel really dizzy all of a sudden" Faith replied. "I think I need to go lie down..."

"I hear time travel can be quite disorienting" said Giles as he began to lead Buffy and a now very pale Faith to the room he had set up for them. "You're probably having a delayed reaction.." Willow raised an eyebrow as she watched her friends walk away.

"What was all that about?" she said, frowning slightly. Tara of course had some idea what it was about, but couldn't really be sure. Sophie knew exactly what was going on, but said nothing. At the tender age of four, she already had more tact than Anya and the young Cordelia combined.

--

"Okay, what's up?" Buffy asked, snuggling up next to Faith.

"Nothin', B" Faith replied. "Just got dizzy, that's all." Buffy looked skeptical.

"I know you Faith, and you don't start looking all sick and pale like that for nothing." The slayers voice softened slightly. "And I thought you didn't hide things from me anymore." Faith sighed, giving in.

"Okay. You know that bandage Tara had on her head? Well, she's got a pretty nasty lookin' cut under there, it'll probably leave a scar."

"And.." Buffy interrupted, not reallyn understanding where this story was my going.

"And it's my fault, B."

"You mean you did it?"

"Well no, not exactly, but it is my fault. One time when I was eight my mom threw a vodka bottle at me. That was nothin' unusual, only this time Tara was there and she got in the way tryin' to protect me."

"That is _not_ your fault, Faith. It's anything but your fault, and Tara wouldn't want you thinking it was."

"But she'll have that scar forever, B" said Faith quietly, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Scars don't go away."

"Maybe not" whispered Buffy, kissing her girlfriend. "But they do fade over time."

--

Later that night, after making a call to inform Dawn that they had made it back unharmed, Tara crept into the bedroom she was sharing with Willow and Sophie. Sophie was curled up against Willow, who was gently stroking her daughter's hair.

"Sometimes I wonder if I deserve this" the redhead whispered.

"Deserve what?" asked Tara, slipping into bed beside them.

"You, Sophie, the baby" Willow sighed. "I mean, what if I somehow turn evil again?" she gazed down at Sophie. "I could hurt her."

"You wouldn't."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because you didn't" Tara explained. "Sophie met evil you and you didn't hurt her at all. You saved her life." She paused to let her words sink in. "Besides" she added, leaning over to kiss her wife, "You only became Dark Willow last time because of my death. I'm not going anywhere, so we should be safe." Willow grinned. She liked those odds.


End file.
